Tribocorrosion behavior of Spark Plasma Sintering TiC reinforced Ti-based composites

Abstract A mixture of Ti and TiH2 powders with 0, 3, 10 and 30% Vol. TiC was used to process Ti-based composite materials by Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) at 850 °C. Tribocorrosion tests in Simulated Body Fluid (SBF) were performed by coupling a potentiostat to a microtribometer in a ball-on-plate reciprocating configuration at 2 N load. The results showed that the addition of 3% Vol. TiC resulted in an improvement in wear resistance and corrosion tendency by approximately 3 times in comparison to unreinforced composites. Wear mechanisms showed a transition from severe adhesion, to a less severe damage within abrasion regime with TiC content.