Post-sintering Annealing Research Articles

Intergranular phase transformation in post-sinter annealed Nd–Dy–Fe–Cu–Ga–B magnet: from Ia[formula omitted]-cubic to I4/mcm-tetragonal structure

High-coercivity Nd–Fe–B permanent magnets crucially depend on the deliberate modulation of intergranular phases, an important embodiment being I4/mcm-tetragonal Nd6Fe13Ga intergranular phase in the Nd–Fe–Ga–B magnet. Particularly, for the Nd–Dy–Fe–Cu–Ga–B magnet containing multiple rare earths (RE) and alloying metals (M), understanding the evolution of RE6(Fe,M)14 intergranular phase becomes more critical in the quest for higher coercivity. Here we design the (Nd,Pr)29.0Dy3.0FebalCu0.5Ga0.5B0.9N1.15 (N=Co, Al, Zr, wt.%) as-sintered magnets, where the major RE/Cu/Ga-rich Ia3¯-cubic intergranular phase is agglomerated in triple junctions. These pristine as-sintered magnets are subjected to annealing over a wide temperature range (390∼900 °C for 3 h) and quenching over a wide time range (0.5∼12 h at 460 °C). Through systematic microstructural characterization and first-principle calculation, the intergranular phase transformation from RE/Cu/Ga-rich Ia3¯-cubic to Fe/Ga-rich I4/mcm-tetragonal structure, and accompanying elemental segregation is unveiled. During post-sinter annealing, metastable state I firstly occurs, consisting of nanostructured RE/Cu-rich Ia3¯-cubic and I4/mcm-tetragonal lamellas, with the emergence of multi-twins and coherent interface. Then it evolves into metastable state II, consisting of lath-shaped Fe/Cu/Ga-rich I4/mcm-tetragonal structure with fluctuating Fe/Cu concentrations. Simultaneously, metastable state III occurs, exhibiting P4-tetragonal platelets with lower Cu content and reduced crystallographic symmetry. Finally, heightened Fe/Ga diffusion into the lattice of tetragonal phase with synchronous Cu discharge generates the thermodynamically more stable Fe/Ga-rich RE6Fe13Ga phase. The implication of phase transformation pathways on the coercivity is discussed, offering valuable insights into the optimization of RE6(Fe,M)14 intergranular phase and allowing more space for enhanced coercivity.

Effects of Post-sintering Annealing on (NdLa)-(FeCo)-B Magnets

Effects of Post-sintering Annealing on (NdLa)-(FeCo)-B Magnets

Effect of post-sinter annealing on structure and coercivity of (Zr, Ti)-doped Nd-Ce-Fe-B magnets

Post-sinter annealing effects on the structure and coercivity have been investigated for the (Zr, Ti)-doped Nd-Ce-Fe-B sintered magnets. In them, an in-situ formed Zr-rich Zr-Ti phase with the strip shape is found to be beneficial for the coercivity Hcj, because its distribution along grain boundaries (GBs) after annealing at 700℃ can block the magnetic domain within matrix phases passing through the adjacent RE2Fe14B grains. It, coupled with the optimized distribution of RE-rich phase, accounts for the 21.1 % increase of Hcj before and after annealing at 700 ℃. This temperature much higher than the melting-point (465 ℃) of RE-rich phase is the optimum annealing temperature, at which the RE-rich liquid phase is good for the distribution of Zr-Ti phase along GBs rather than at triple junction regions, optimizing GB microstructure. Such new findings deepen the understanding on microstructure evolutions of the GB modified Nd-Fe-B magnet during annealing and further provide a theoretical basis for the Hcj improvement.

Effect of Annealing Temperature on Grain Boundary Structure and Magnetic Properties of Nd–Ce–Gd–Fe–B Sintered Magnet

Post-sinter annealing plays an important role in optimizing grain boundary phases of Nd-Fe-B magnets. The sintered magnet is usually processed by two-step annealing, which consists of a high-temperature annealing (first-step annealing) followed by a low-temperature annealing (second-step annealing). In this work, the magnetic properties and microstructure of Nd-Ce-Gd-Fe-B magnets have been investigated by different second-step annealing temperatures. Compared with the magnet annealed at 420 °C, the knee coercivity ( <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">H</i> <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">k</sub> ) of the 460 °C annealed magnet was increased by 156.7 kA/m, and the squareness factor was improved significantly from 0.85 to 0.98. The volume fraction of RE-rich (RE: rare earth) phases in the magnet has increased after second-step annealing at 460 °C. Microstructural analysis showed that the grain boundary layers in the 460 °C annealed magnets were thicker and evenly distributed around RE <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> Fe <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">14</sub> B grains, which was helpful to decrease the exchange-coupling between RE <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> Fe <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">14</sub> B grains and therefore enhance the coercivity.

Effects and regulation mechanisms of post-sinter annealing treatment on magnetic properties and microstructures of Nd-Fe-B sintered magnets with varying boron contents

In traditional Nd-Fe-B-based sintered magnets, the composition, role of each element and microstructures have been extensively investigated globally since they were invented in 1983. However, the effects of boron (B) content and post-sinter annealing (PSA) on the microstructure and magnetic properties have been least studied so far and the relative mechanisms are not yet clear. In this paper, we investigated the influence of B on the magnetic performance and microstructure of Nd-Fe-B sintered magnets originally containing copper (Cu), gallium (Ga) and titanium (Ti). It is shown that the intrinsic coercivity has a substantial increment of 2.86 kOe and the remanence has a slight reduction of 0.16 kGs when B content is reduced from 0.980 wt.% to 0.900 wt.%. Moreover, there is a coercivity increment of 27.3% and 65.3% for samples with 0.980 wt.% and 0.900 wt.% B content after PSA, respectively. It is shown that the impacts of B content and PSA are significant and their regulation mechanisms are worthwhile to be studied systematically. Furthermore, it is revealed by microstructural analysis that high coercivity of the sample with 0.900 wt.% B after PSA results from the uniform distribution of Ga, Cu, Nd, and the formation of RE6(Fe, M)14 (RE=Pr, Nd, M=Cu, Ga) compound in triple junction phases. The dilution of Fe content in grain boundary phases (GB phases) also plays an important role. It is found out that decrease of the remanence is mainly due to reduction of the matrix phase and c-axis alignment degree. In this study, we explored a new path to develop Nd-Fe-B-based sintered magnets with high comprehensive properties by novel approaches through varying B content, PSA technique and co-adding trace elements.

Effect of non-rare-earth element enrichment on in-the-column secondary electron image contrast of Nd-rich phases in Nd-Fe-B sintered magnets

In-the-column secondary electron (SE) imaging has demonstrated an important role in identifying various Nd-rich phases in Nd-Fe-B sintered magnets at a microscale field of view. It is well known that modifying the microstructure of Nd-Fe-B sintered magnets by adding non-rear-earth (NRE) elements dissolved into the intergranular Nd-rich phases during post-sinter annealing can effectively increase the magnet coercivity. However, the effect of NRE element enrichment on in-the-column SE image contrast of Nd-rich phases has not received much attention. In this study, we have combined a focused ion/electron dual beam system (FIB/SEM) and a scanning/transmission electron microscope (S/TEM) to investigate the in-the-column SE image contrast, structure, and element distribution of intergranular Nd-rich phases in commercial heavy-rare-earth (HRE) free Nd-Fe-B sintered magnets. In-lens SE imaging revealed that Cu, Co, or Al-enriched neodymium oxides with fcc, Ia3¯-type, or amorphous structures are brighter than the Nd2Fe14B matrix at an accelerating voltage of 2 kV and a working distance of 4 mm. Bright stripes inside the intergranular fcc NdOx were also visible in high-resolution through-the-column SE imaging, reflecting the nanoscale composition variation with Co or Cu enrichment. Contrarily, at the same imaging conditions, the nearly pure fcc NdOx and Ia3¯-Nd2O3 exhibit darker than the Nd2Fe14B matrix in the in-lens SE image. It has been demonstrated that the in-lens SE image contrast of Nd-rich phases with respect to the Nd2Fe14B matrix remains constant by systematically adjusting the accelerating voltage from 2 kV to 5 kV and the working distance from 4 mm to 6 mm. Our research results suggest that low-voltage in-the-column SE imaging could be used to track element diffusion in triple junction and grain boundary Nd-rich phases of Nd-Fe-B sintered magnets during post-sinter annealing by in-situ MEMS heating in SEM.

Significant coercivity enhancement of Ga-doped sintered Nd-Fe-B magnet by grain boundary diffusion perpendicular to the c-axis

Grain boundary diffusion (GBD) process is the most effective approach for enhancing coercivity of Nd-Fe-B magnets with minimal consumption of heavy rare earth (HRE). However, understanding of GBD mechanism is still limited, especially on the anisotropic diffusion behavior within sintered magnets. Grain boundary (GB) phase is the key factor in determining the diffusion process, which acts as diffusion channel for HRE atoms. The effects of doping Ga on the grain boundary microstructure and diffusion behavior of Tb in the sintered Nd-Fe-B magnet were investigated. Sintered magnets with different Ga content (0.15 wt%, 0.45 wt%) were prepared. It should be noted that Tb was diffused perpendicular to the easy axis (c-axis) of the magnets. The coercivity increased more significantly to 2.802 T (1.006 T higher than that of the post-sinter annealed state) in magnets with high Ga content than the low Ga content magnets (2.291 T, 0.669 T higher than the post-sintered annealed state). Such a huge coercivity increment almost reached the same value by diffusing Tb along the easy axis reported by other researchers. Chemical compositions and microstructure of the GB phase were found to be key factors in influencing the HRE diffusion process. A considerable amount of Nd6Fe13Ga phase was observed near triple junctions after post-sinter annealing in the high Ga content magnets, which markedly decreased Fe concentration in the intergranular phase. In addition, amorphous intergranular metallic Cu-rich phases provided smooth diffusion channels for HRE atoms. (Nd1-x, Tbx)2Fe14B shell was much more obvious in the high Ga content magnets. Ga dopping induced novel modifications in diffusion behavior of HRE atoms and strongly influenced the magnetic properties of permanent magnets. The present approach provide new path for the manufacture of high performance magnets, which is interesting both for technical applications and fundamental studies.

Preparation of thick dense ceramic films of dielectric BaTaO2N through electrophoretic deposition

Sintering of the ferroelectric perovskite oxynitride, BaTaO2N is still a big challenge, because nitrogen is partially released from the crystal lattice during high-temperature sintering. Post-sintering annealing under an NH3 flow is essential in order to compensate for this nitrogen loss and to recover the electrically insulating properties of the ceramic. However, fully densified bulk ceramics are nitrided only on their outer surface, while their interior remains semiconducting. In this work, thick ceramic films of the perovskite oxynitride with a high relative density close to 90% were fabricated using electrophoretic deposition and high-temperature sintering. The nitrogen loss was fully recovered during annealing under an NH3 flow, owing to the thickness of the sintered films being less than 100 μm. After annealing, the BaTaO2N ceramics consisted of 200 nm-sized particles with a dense microstructure. This is the first report of the fabrication of BaTaO2N ceramics with a relative density of 89%. The dielectric constant and dielectric loss were approximately 320 and 0.05 at 1 MHz, respectively.

Influence of annealing environments on the conduction behaviour of KNN-based ceramics

The electrical conduction behaviour of the lead-free (1-x)K0·5Na0·5Nb0·95Sb0·05O3-xBi0.5Na0·41K0·09ZrO3 (x = 0.05) ceramics annealed in air, oxygen, and argon environments at various temperatures was investigated. Post-sintering annealing in different atmospheres affected the temperature of dielectric phase transition and electrical conductivity values significantly. The ceramic sample annealed in an oxygen environment showed the lowest conductivity for grain (σg ∼ 1.22 × 10−5 S/m) and grain boundary (σgb ∼ 1.56 × 10−6 S/m) regions at 250 °C which is due to the reduction in oxygen vacancy defects. The activation energy Ea for DC conduction in this sample obeyed the Arrhenius relation and was found to be ∼ 0.99 ± 0.03 eV. An additional anomaly observed at T ∼ 250 °C dielectrics vs. temperature plots for the as-sintered and argon-annealed samples is ascribed to defect relaxation, which was inconspicuous in the samples annealed in air and oxygen. In addition, the in-situ impedance measurement was performed to analyze the impact of argon atmosphere on the electrical conductivity of the O2-annealed samples with high-temperature electrode curing.

Enormous improvement of the coercivity of Ga and Cu co-doping Nd-Fe-B sintered magnet by post-sinter annealing

Post-sinter annealing is essential to improve the microstructures and magnetic properties in NdFeB-based sintered permanent magnetic materials. In this paper, investigated systemically are the effects of post-sinter annealing on the microstructures and magnetic performance of Ga and Cu co-doping Nd2Fe14B based sintered magnets. It is found out that the intrinsic coercive force of the magnets increased from 9.17 kOe to 18.67 kOe after two stage post-sinter annealing (PSA), which shows an extraordinary increment of 103.5%. The remanence, with a decreasing percentage of 1.95%, slightly decreases from 13.87 kGs to 13.60 kGs. The substantial increase of intrinsic coercivity is mainly attributed to the improvement of clean and thin continuous grain boundary layers, the smoothness of hard magnetic matrix phase and the appearance of the RE6(Fe, M)14 antiferromagnetic phase during annealing. The reduction of the remanence is caused by the deteriorated orientation degree and reduced volume fraction of hard magnetic main phases after post-sinter annealing.

Magnetic properties evolution with grain boundary phase transformation and their growth in Nd-Fe-Cu-Ga-B sintered magnet during post-sinter annealing process

The formation of Nd6Fe13Ga phase promoted the continuity and non-ferromagnetism of grain boundary (GB) phases of Nd-Fe-Cu-Ga-B magnets during proper post-sintering annealing process. The coercivity increased dramatically with a decrease of remanence. After further annealing at the sintering temperature, the remanence recovered with a drop of coercivity. It indicated that Nd2Fe14B phase decomposed with the formation of Nd6Fe13Ga phase. Overextending the annealing time led to the gradual decrease of coercivity as the growth of Nd6Fe13Ga phase weakened the continuity of GB phases. Increasing the annealing temperature to the optimum temperature for Nd6Fe13Ga phase can aggravate the decrease of coercivity and remanence. Owing to the intensifying segregation of Ga and Fe in GB phases with the formation of Nd6Fe13Ga phase by dehydrogenation (HD) at 560 °C, high coercivity can be obtained by annealing at a lower temperature or for shorter time compared with HD at 480 °C. The enrichment of Cu in Nd-rich phase ensured its wettability and non-ferromagnetism when the diffusion of Fe and Ga became more local with the formation of Nd6Fe13Ga phase. Therefore, the combined effect of Cu doping and reasonable high temperature HD was conducive to obtain high coercivity in a larger range of annealing time and temperature for Nd-Fe-Ga-B magnet, which was a potential method for its mass production.

Effects of post-sinter annealing on microstructure and magnetic properties of Nd–Fe–B sintered magnets with Nd–Ga intergranular addition* *Project supported by the Major Project of Science and Technology Innovation 2025 in Ningbo, China (Grant No. 2018B10086), the Major Project of Inner Mongolia Science and Technology, Zhejiang Provincial Public Welfare Technology Application Research Project, China (Grant No. LGG21E010007), and the Key Research

We investigate the effects of post-sinter annealing on the microstructure and magnetic properties in B-lean Nd–Fe–B sintered magnets with different quantities of Nd–Ga intergranular additions. The magnet with fewer Nd–Ga additions can enhance 0.2 T in coercivity, with its remanences nearly unchanged after annealing. With the further increase of the Nd–Ga addition, the annealing process leads coercivity to increase 0.4 T, accompanied by a slight decrease of remanence. With the Nd–Ga addition further increasing and after annealing, however, the increase of coercivity is basically constant and the change of remanence is reduced. Microstructure observation indicates that the matrix grains are covered by continuous thin grain boundary phase in the magnets with an appropriate Nd–Ga concentration after the annealing process. However, the exceeding Nd–Ga addition brings out notable segregation of grain boundary phase, and prior formation of part RE 6Fe13Ga phase in the sintered magnet. This prior formation results in a weaker change of remanence after the annealing process. Therefore, the diverse changes of magnetic properties with different Nd–Ga concentrations are based on the respective evolution of grain boundary after the annealing process.

Transparent cobalt‐doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Co2+:YAG) ceramics—An innovatory fast saturable absorber

AbstractHighly transparent Y3Al5O12 (YAG) ceramics doped with 0.025 and 0.05 at.% Co ions were prepared for the first time by the freeze granulation process and reaction sintering. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X‐ray diffraction (XRD) were performed to analyze the microstructure and crystal structure of the samples. The absorption spectra of the Co2+:YAG ceramics were measured at room temperature, and significant absorption bands at 600 nm, as well as at 1535 nm, were observed. The nonlinear behavior of the received material was experimentally demonstrated. Due to the short relaxation time of investigated ceramics, we considered them as fast saturable absorbers. The influence of the postsintering annealing process was examined. The values of saturation intensities of YAG ceramics with different concentrations of cobalt were estimated by fitting experimental data to the theoretical model for fast saturable absorbers.

3Y-TZP Toughened and Oxidation-resistant U3Si2 Composites for Accident Tolerant Fuels

In this work, we report an innovative approach synergizing multiple effects of microstructure control, oxide protection and phase transformation-induced mechanically toughening to develop advanced U3Si2 fuels with state-of-the-art materials properties. 3Y-TZP (3 mol% yttria doped stabilized tetragonal zirconia) additives are incorporated and uniformly distributed into the SPS-densified U3Si2 fuel matrix, enhancing materials fracture toughness up to 4.04 MPa m1/2. The 3Y-TZP incorporated U3Si2 composite pellets show significantly improved onset temperature of oxidation above 560 °C, which can be further improved to 617 °C with 3 vol% addition by post-sintering thermal annealing. The development of mechanically tough and oxidation-resistant U3Si2 with minimal additive represents a major step forward towards realizing the potential of high density U3Si2 as the leading fuel concept to increase accidence tolerance of nuclear energy systems.

Mn Distribution in ZnO:Mn Ceramics: Influence of Sintering Process and Thermal Annealing

Manganese spatial distribution in ZnO:Mn ceramics (0.1–5 at.% Mn) sintered at 1100 °C in air has been investigated using Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), micro-Raman and Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The Raman and EPR spectra show that concentration of Mn incorporated in ZnO grains decreases from the surface of ceramic sample to its depth. Mn distribution in ZnO grains is also inhomogeneous. The concentration of Mn on Zn site centers (MnZn2+) evaluated from the EPR data is found to be lower than the Mn content in the charge indicating a large amount of Mn remains in the intergranular spaces. Thermostimulated Mn redistribution between the ZnO grain and the intergranural spaces have been observed under post sintering annealing. The influence of ZnO native donors on MnZn2+ center formation is found. It is supposed that this effect is due to interaction of Mn with interstitial zinc. The impact of native donor concentration on current-voltage characteristics of ZnO:Mn ceramics is demonstrated. The influence of Mn distribution on varistor characteristic is discussed.

Further enhancing the coercivity of Nd-Tb-Fe-B sintered magnets by Dy grain boundary diffusion

The coercivity of Nd–Fe–B sintered magnets was progressive enhanced by Tb alloying and Dy grain boundary diffusion (GBD). Every 1 wt% Tb doping led to about 0.37 T linear increase in the coercivity. For all magnets with different Tb content after Dy GBD, the coercivity increased by about 0.7 T with the formation of network enriched with Dy. As Dy diffusion flux was determined by Dy concentration gradient, the coercivity enhancement of Dy GBD was not affected by the Tb content of base magnets. Dy enriched at the TJs diffused along the grain boundary with the Nd-rich phase extending along the grain boundary during post diffusion annealing process. Similar with post sintering annealing, the coercivity increased by about 0.3 T after post diffusion annealing. Therefore, alloying and diffusing different heavy rare earth elements was an effective way to prepare Nd-Fe-B sintered magnets with higher magnetic properties.

The Effect of the Processing Parameters on the Properties of the Liquid Phase Spark Plasma Sintered 80Fe-20(Al + MWCNT) Magnetic Metal Matrix Nanocomposites

In this paper, the liquid phase sintering was performed using spark plasma sintering to produce iron (Fe: 80 vol%)–aluminum (Al)–multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) magnetic hybrid metal matrix nanocomposites. The properties of the nanocomposites were investigated by considering different parameters of materials processing. The reinforcement of MWCNT with a content of 0–2 vol% did not affect the saturation magnetization of the nanocomposites but increased the coercivity and reduced both the electrical resistivity and the mechanical transverse rupture strength. It was found that milling the powders for 24 h resulted in composite with high saturation magnetization (148.820 A·m2/kg) and high coercivity (2175.6 A/m) but further milling time had reduced the values of magnetic properties. The mixture of Fe nanoparticles and Fe microparticles in composites with a nanoparticles-to-microparticles volume ratio of 1:1 has led to the enhanced saturation magnetization up to 157.820 A·m2/kg and reduced the coercivity of 50.20% in comparison with the Fe nanoparticles based nanocomposites. That mixture exhibited good electrical resistivity but caused the reduction of mechanical strength. The post-sintering annealing has significantly improved the magnetic softness of the composites by reducing the coercivity up to 854.30 A/m and increased the saturation magnetization.

UO2 + 5 ​vol% ZrB2 nano composite nuclear fuels with full boron retention and enhanced oxidation resistance

The boron isotope (10B) can be used as a neutron absorber in UO2 to control the reactivity of nuclear fuel pellets, however, the boron source can react with oxygen source in UO2 to form B2O3 that vaporize readily at temperatures above 1200 °C. Unfortunately, the sintering of UO2 fuel requires hours holding at high temperature (>1700 °C), resulting in an inevitable B loss during sintering and unpredictable B concentration in final product. It is challenging to incorporate boron through a conventional sintering method. In this work, we demonstrated that spark plasma sintering (SPS), a field assisted sintering technology, can effectively densify UO2 ​+ ​5 ​vol% ZrB2 composite fuel pellets by rapid consolidation at 1600 °C for a short duration of 5 min under an applied pressure of 40 MPa. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) measurements confirm that ZrB2 is fully retained inside the composite fuel pellets. Inside the composite fuel pellets, nano sized ZrB2 particles are uniformly distributed along the grain boundaries of the UO2 matrix. The ZrB2 particle transforms to a glassy B2O3 phase covering the sample surface and grain boundaries of UO2 matrix after a simple post-sintering annealing at 1000 °C in flowing Argon gas for 4 h. The formed glassy B2O3 slows down the diffusion of oxygen ions and postpones the onset temperature for oxidation of UO2 from 400 °C to 550 °C. This study demonstrates the capability of SPS, an advanced fuel manufacturing technique, to achieve a full retention of ZrB2 in UO2 oxide fuel and increase oxidation resistance through a simple post-sintering annealing. The reported work holds great engineering potential for development of advanced oxide fuel for nuclear application.

Transparent Er2O3 ceramics fabricated by high-pressure spark plasma sintering

Fabrication of transparent Er2O3 ceramics was carried out by high-pressure spark plasma sintering (HP-SPS). The color and in-line transmittance of these ceramics was highly sensitive to the sintering parameters. Samples exhibited a strong pink or wine color after sintering at 1150 °C under 600 MPa or 1250 °C under 250 MPa, respectively. This was confirmed to be a result of oxygen vacancies created during the sintering process and high sensitivity of Er2O3 to the strong reducing atmosphere in the SPS apparatus. Post-sintering annealing in an air furnace led to elimination of oxygen vacancies and increased transparency. Additionally, the photoluminescence intensity and phosphorescence lifetime of annealed (pink) samples was higher and shorter, respectively, compared to that of the reduced (wine-colored) samples.

Structure and Properties of Layered Ti-6Al-4V-Based Materials Fabricated Using Blended Elemental Powder Metallurgy

Due to the high specific strength of Ti, materials on its base are indispensable when high-strength and low-weight requests are a chief demand from the industry. Reinforcement of Ti-alloys with hard and light particles of TiC and TiB is a credible pathway to make metal matrix composites (MMC) with enhanced elastic moduli without compromising the material’s low-weight. However, reinforcement of the alloy with hard particles inevitably lowers the value of toughness and plasticity of material. Yet, in many applications simultaneous high hardness and high plasticity are not required through the entire structure. For instance, parts that need enhanced wear resistance or resistance upon ballistic impact demand high hardness and strength at the surface, whereas their core necessitates rather high toughness and ductility. Such combination of mechanical properties can be achieved on layered structures joining two and more layers of different materials with different chemical composition and/or microstructure within each individual layer.Multi-layered structures of Ti-6Al-4V alloy and its metal-matrix composites (MMC) with 5 and10% (vol.) of TiC and TiB were fabricated in this study using blended elemental powder metallurgy (BEPM) of hydrogenated Ti. Post-sintering hot deformation and annealing were sometimes also employed to improve the microstructure and properties. Structure of materials were characterized using light optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, electron backscattered diffraction, x-ray microscopy, tensile and 3-point flexural tests. The effect of various fabrication parameters was investigated to achieve desirable microstructure and properties of layered materials. Using optimized processing parameters, relatively large multilayered plates were made via BEPM and demonstrate superior anti-ballistic performance compared to the equally sized uniform Ti-6Al-4V plates fabricated by traditional ingot and wrought technology.