Preparation of textured TiB2-(Ti,Zr)B2 composites by gel-casting in a magnetic field of 6 T.

Textured TiB 2 -(Ti,Zr)B 2 composites were prepared by gel-casting in 6 T and subsequent pressureless sintering without the magnetic field. These results showed that c-axis of TiB 2 and ZrB 2 grains were oriented to parallel to the direction of the magnetic field in textured green bodies. Separately, the higher c-axis orientation was obtained for TiB 2 and the lower c-axis orientation was obtained for ZrB 2 . After sintering, ZrB 2 phases disappeared and new (Ti,Zr)B 2 solid solutions appeared by the reaction of ZrB 2 and TiB 2 . The degree of texture of TiB 2 increased compared with that in green body. (Ti,Zr)B 2 solid solutions also showed high c-axis orientation. With the increase of sintering temperatures from 1800 °C to 1950 °C, the degree of texture of TiB 2 slightly decreased from 0.95 to 0.92 and the degree of texture of (Ti,Zr)B 2 showed the big decreasing from 0.80 to 0.62. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]