Investigating the Effect of Chemical Composition and Sintering Temperature on Mechanical Properties of SiC-5TiB2 Nano Composite Reinforced by Graphene Quantum dot using Taguchi Test Design Method

The purpose of this research was to fabricate and investigate the properties of SiC-5TiB2 nano composites reinforced by gaphene quantum dot nanoparticles via pressure less sintering method. In this way, SiC, TiB2, and graphene quantum dot raw materials were used in nanometer dimensions. First, before performing any laboratory operations, experimental samples were designed using Minitab 14 software. The design was done by the Taguchi method according to the L9 array and the parameters of the amount of gaphene quantum dot amplification in three levels were set at 0.2, 0.6, and 1 wt.% and sintering temperatures were defined as 2000, 2100, and 2200°C. The sintering process was carried out at certain temperatures in argon atmosphere for 2 h. XRD, FESEM, FTIR and Raman spectroscopy were performed. Density, micro hardness, and fracture toughness measurements were used for further investigations of physical and mechanical properties. The microstructure of the samples was also observed to determine the fracture toughness mechanisms. The results showed that the parameter of the amount of reinforcement was in the first rank of influence and the sintering temperature was in the second rank, and the best results were obtained in the sample with the amount of 0.6 wt.% of gaphene quantum dot and the sintering temperature of 2100 °C, where hardness and fracture toughness values were obtained to be 27.7 GPa and 3.3 MPa.m1/2, respectively.