Formation of Metal-Intermetallic Laminate Composites by Spark Plasma Sintering of Metal Plates and Powder Work Pieces

Laminate composites with an intermetallic component are some of the most prospective constructional and functional materials. The basic formation method of such materials consists in heating a stack composed of metallic plates reacting at elevated temperatures to form intermetallic phases. The temperature of the process is usually approximately equal to a melting point of a more easily fusible component. In this study, an alternative technology of producing a titanium – titanium aluminide composite with a laminate structure is suggested. It consists in combining metallic (titanium and aluminum) powder mixtures pre-sintered at 400 оС with titanium plates, alternate stacking of these components and subsequent spark plasma sintering (SPS) of the fabricated workpieces. Applying this technology allowed for the fabrication of metal-intermetallic laminate (MIL) materials with an inhomogeneous structure of intermetallic interlayers. The phases revealed in the composite by X-Ray diffraction (XRD) were α-Ti, Al, Al3Ti and Al2Ti. Moreover, the results of the energy-dispersive analysis gave the evidence of the formation of Ti-enriched phases in powder layers after SPS. A small number of voids were observed between the structural components of the intermetallic layers. Voids were also detected at “metal-intermetallic” interfaces; however, the quality of connection between different layers in the composite was very high. The microhardness of an intermetallic layer formed in the composite was comparable to the microhardness of the Al3Ti compound. The microhardness of titanium was equal to 1600 MPa.