Preparation and characterization of novel Ti(Al)–TiB₂/Ti₃Al metallic-intermetallic laminated composites

In this paper, we designed and prepared Ti(Al)–TiB₂/Ti₃Al laminated composites consisting of alternating Ti(Al) layers and TiB₂/Ti₃Al layers, which were realized by using Ti foils and TiB₂/Al composite foils as raw materials, stacking, and reaction annealing. Phase transformation and microstructure evolution of laminated composites during reaction annealing were systematically investigated by means of optical microscope (OM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Formation mechanism of laminated structure was elucidated in details. The results showed that Ti(Al)–TiB₂/Ti₃Al laminated composites exhibited a significant increase in ductility while maintaining or even improving the tensile strength, in comparison with monolithic Ti₃Al. It is expected that the design strategy can be extended to other brittle intermetallic compounds, such as Ni–Al and Fe–Al systems.