Abstract:
Magnesium composites reinforced by N-deficient Ti
2AlN MAX phase were first fabricated by non-pressure infiltration of Mg into three-dimensional (3D) co-continuous porous Ti
2AlN
x (
x = 0.9, 1.0) preforms. The relationship between their mechanical properties and microstructure is discussed with the assessment of 2D and 3D characterization. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy detected no impurities. The 3D reconstruction shows that the uniformly distributed pores in Ti
2AlN
x preforms are interconnected, which act as infiltration tunnels for the melt Mg. The compressive yield strength and microhardness of Ti
2AlN
0.9/Mg are 353 MPa and 1.12 GPa, respectively, which are 8.55% and 6.67% lower than those of Ti
2AlN/Mg, respectively. The typical delamination and kink band occurred in Ti
2AlN
x under compressive and Vickers hardness (
VH) tests. Owing to the continuous skeleton structure and strong interfacial bonding strength, the crack initiated in Ti
2AlN
x was blocked by the plastic Mg matrix. This suggests the possibility of regulating the mechanical performance of Ti
2AlN/Mg composites by controlling the N vacancy and the hierarchical structure of Ti
2AlN skeleton.