MICROSTRUCTURE AND TENSILE PROPERTIES OF CONTINUOUS DIAMOND FIBER-REINFORCED TITANIUM-ALLOY

Preliminary experiments on a diamond fibre reinforced Ti-6Al-4V alloy are reported. The titanium alloy was electron beam evaporated from a m olten bath and condensed on to diamond fibres. Titanium alloy coated f ibres were consolidated into a composite by hot isostatic pressing. Ro und bar tensile test pieces were machined from the composite and tensi le properties determined. The composite microstructure was characteris ed using Auger analysis and scanning electron microscopy. Excellent co mposite modulus values were obtained in the fibre direction, with valu es increasing from 115 to 222 GPa with fibre volume fraction, whilst c orresponding strength and elongation values decreased from 1000 to 626 MPa and 10% to 0%, respectively. The results are compared with data f or current titanium alloy MMCs. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A.