Influences of solution treatments on the microstructure and mechanical properties of TiCx-Cu (x = 0.5, 0.6, 0.7) cermets prepared by infiltration method

In this study, TiCx-Cu (x = 0.5, 0.6, 0.7) cermets were prepared combined with subsequent solution treatment, and the influences of solution treatment on the microstructures and mechanical properties were analyzed. The fracture mechanisms of cermets before and after solution treatment were mainly observed and analyzed. The results show that solution treatment can significantly improve the comprehensive mechanical properties of TiCx-Cu cermets. The fracture toughness KIC of TiC0.5-Cu and TiC0.7-Cu cermets increased by 28% and 11%, respectively. The improvements of the comprehensive properties of TiCx-Cu cermets were benefited by the reduction of the content of hard brittle intermetallic compound Cu4Ti and the refinements of the grain size of Cu.