Abstract
Almost single-phase ternary compound Ti3AlC2 was successfully synthesized by pulse discharge sintering (PDS) from Ti/Al/TiC powder mixtures with molar ratio of 2:2:3. The typical microstructure of Ti3AlC2 was found to consist of plate-like grains with mean size of 9.5 μm in length. Four-point bending testing results revealed that the fracture behavior is brittle below 1200°C, and some characteristics of plastic deformation were observed at higher testing temperatures. The polycrystalline Ti3AlC2 synthesized by PDS technique shows good strength at high temperatures.
