LAUSR

Abstract Titanium has found extensive use in various engineering applications due to its attractive physical, mechanical, and chemical characteristics. However, titanium has relatively low hardness for use as an armour material. ZrB 2 was incorporated to the Ti matrix to form a Ti-based binary composites. In this study, powder metallurgy techniques were employed to disperse the ceramic particulates throughout the matrix material then consolidated through spark plasma sintering. The composites were densified at 1300 °C, pressure of 50 MPa, and holding time of 5 min. The microstructure and phase analysis of the sintered composites was carried out using SEM and XRD, while the hardness was determined using Vickers' microhardness tester. The SEM and XRD results confirmed the presence of the TiB whiskers which renowned with the improving the hardness of titanium. The hardness of the composite with 10 wt% ZrB 2 showed the highest hardness compared to that obtained for the 5 and 15 wt% ZrB 2 composites which was 495 and 571Hv respectively.