Abstract
Titanium silicon carbide Ti3SiC2, a member of MAX-phase ternary compound ceramics, is expected as a new resistance heating element substituting for conventional ones including rare metals because of its excellent high-temperature oxidation resistance, metal-like electrical conductivity, good machinability and ubiquitous constituent elements. The authors tried to synthesize a large bulk Ti3SiC2 by pressureless sintering of a compacted powder blend of Ti, SiC and C, while the powder compact collapsed during sintering. Causes of the collapse were investigated and based on the investigation results a solution for the problem was found out. The large bulk Ti3SiC2 was synthesized successfully without collapse by the replacement of a part of Ti and C in the starting powders with TiC.
