Two-step sintering of TiB2–40wt%TiN composites

Abstract Two-step pressureless sintering was investigated for TiB2–40wt%TiN system. The calculation for phase equilibria was performed, which indicates that a significant nitrogen loss can occur at 1700 °C while ZrO2 readily dissolves into TiN lattice from 1600 °C. The XRD analysis revealed that nitrogen loss was greater during first step at low temperature but smaller for second step at high temperature. As a result, the high-temperature processing of the second step provided better densification and mechanical properties than those of one-step sintering.