Strengthening effects of in-situ synthetic nano-TiC particles on Ti64 based nanocomposites through adding graphene nanoplatelets

In-situ synthetic nano-TiC reinforced Ti64 composites (TiC/Ti64) through adding graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) were successfully fabricated by vacuum hot-pressing sintering (HPS) and canned hot extrusion. The surface of Ti64 powders were coated by GNPs through low energy ball milling. During HPS, the agglomerate nano-TiC was distributed at the surface of Ti64 powders. During extrusion, the strip-like nano-TiC were broken into independent particles distributed along the extrusion direction. In addition, the TiC/Ti64 sintered at 1000 degrees C and extruded at 1000 degrees C achieved satisfactory mechanical properties based on nano-TiC particles and bi-modal microstructure, with an ultimate tensile strength of 1224 MPa, and a fracture elongation of 7.8%.