In-situ crystalline Cr3C2 and amorphous SiO2 dual-particles reinforced NiCr-based composites

Strength and ductility of structural materials are mutually exclusive in general due to the strength-ductility trade-off. Using in-situ pyrolysis of polycarbosilane in NiCr powder green compacts, we fabri-cated NiCr-based composites with micro-sized crystalline Cr3C2 and amorphous SiO2 dual-particles. Tensile tests show that the NiCr-based composites have a combination of high strength and ductility with the yield strength, ultimate tensile strength and ductility as 449 MPa, 838 MPa and 20.5%, respectively. The amorphous SiO2 and crystalline Cr3C2 particles exhibit plastic deformation and transgranular frac-ture, respectively, under tensile stress. Besides solid solution strengthening, the generation and annihila-tion behavior of dislocations at amorphous/crystalline interface and the strain hardening of the ceramic particles by hindering the movement of dislocations mutually contributes to the combination of excellent strength and ductility of our composites.& COPY; 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).