High Pressure Hot-pressing of TiC and TiC-Al₂O₃ Ceramics Utilizing the Heat of Self-combustion

Abstract

Equimoler mixture of Ti and C powders with additions of 5-40 wt% of Al₂O₃ powder was molded by using an pressure-resistant metalic mold whose inner wall was covered with a carbon insulator. The mixture in the mold was ignited by a tungsten heater and, then, compressed under a pressure of 1 GPa (10000 atm). TiC-Al₂O₃(10wt%) body thus obtained had a microstructure in which TiC crystals of relatively small grain size were surrounded by non-crystalline phase con-taining Al₂O₃, and the maximum value of its Vickers hardness was 32.7 GPa.