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Microstructure and phase evolution in spark plasma sintering of the NbCr2 Laves phase matrix composite toughened with ductile Cr phase

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Abstract

A bulk NbCr2 Laves phase matrix composite toughened with ductile Cr phase has been fabricated by spark plasma sintering (SPS) using pre-alloyed NbCr2 and Cr powders. The sintering behaviour and phase morphological evolution of the sintered alloy were investigated. The results show that a series of microstructure evolutions along the sintering temperature occurred: elongated Cr phase with uniform dispersion of fine NbCr2 and Cr phase → coarse Cr phase with matured fine NbCr2 and Cr → coarse Cr and Nb phases with lamellar eutectics. The microstructural evolution and phase transformation along the sintering temperature are analyzed by considering the inhomogenous temperature distribution and the accelerated atomic diffusion due to the pulsed electric current applied during SPS. The room temperature fracture toughness of the sintered samples is expected to be markedly improved due to the absence of lamellar or the occurrence of ductile Cr and Nb phases.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 51604190 and the State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing in NWPU under Grant No. SKLSP201824.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, 030024, China

    Kewei Li & Fei Gao

  2. Department of Precision Instruments, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Lu Wang

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  1. Kewei Li
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  3. Lu Wang
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Correspondence to Kewei Li.

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Li, K., Gao, F. & Wang, L. Microstructure and phase evolution in spark plasma sintering of the NbCr2 Laves phase matrix composite toughened with ductile Cr phase. Journal of Materials Research 33, 4329–4339 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2018.371

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