Preparation of Fe-Al intermetallic / TiC-Al₂O₃ ceramic composites from ilmenite by SHS

Abstract

Fe-Al intermetallic/TiC-Al₂O₃ ceramic composites were successfully prepared by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) from natural ilmenite, aluminium and carbon as the raw materials. The effects of carbon sources, preheating time and heat treatment temperature on synthesis process and products were investigated in detail, and the reaction process of the FeTiO₃-Al-C system was also discussed. It is shown that the temperature and velocity of the combustion wave are higher when graphite is used as the carbon source, which can reflect the effect of the carbon source structure on the combustion synthesis; Prolonging the preheating time or heat treatment temperature is beneficial to the formation of the ordered intermetallics; The temperature and velocity of the combustion wave are improved, but the disordered alloys are difficult to eliminate with the preheating time prolonged. The compound powders mainly containing ordered Fe3Al intermetallic can be prepared through heat treatment at 750 °C.

Keywords

ilmenite / Fe-Al intermetallic/TiC-Al₂O₃ ceramic composites / SHS / I/CMC

References

[1] Schicker S., Garcia D. E., Bruhn J., . Reaction Processing of Al₂O₃ Composites Containing Iron and Iron Aluminides[J]. J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 1997, 80(9): 2294-2300.

[2] Subramanian R., Schneibel J. H., Alexander K. B., . Iron Aluminide-titanium Carbide Composites by Pressureless Melt Infiltration-microstructure and Mechanical Properties[J]. Scripta Materialia, 1996, 35(5): 583-588.

[3] Gao M., Pan Y., Oliveira F. J., . The Formation of Core-rim Structures in Fe40Al/(TiC-TiN-WC) Cermets Produced by Pressureless Melt Infiltration[J]. Materials Science and Engineering, 2004, A371: 277-282.

[4] Subramanian R., Schneibel J. H. FeAl-TiC and FeAl-WC Composites-melt Infiltration Processing, Microstructure and Mechanical Properties[J]. Materials Science and Engineering, 1998, A244: 103-112.

[5] Gong H., Yin Y., Wang X., . Fabrication and Microstructure of in situ Toughened Al₂O₃/Fe₃Al[J]. Materials Research Bulletin, 2004, 39: 513-521.

[6] Yin Y., Gong H., Fan R., . Preparation and Mechanical Properties of Fe₃Al/Al₂O₃ Nano/Micro-Composite[J]. Trans. Nonferrous Met. Soc. China, 2003, 13(6): 1376-1380.

[7] Liu X., Liu Y., Huang B., . Fabrication of FeAl/TiC Composites Through Reactive Hot Pressing[J]. J. Cent. South. Univ. Technol., 2004, 11(4): 343-347.

[8] Schicker S., Garcia D. E., Bruhn J., . Reaction Synthesized A1₂O₃-based Intermetallic Composites[J]. Acta Materials, 1998, 46(7): 2485-2492.

[9] Zou Z., Yin C., Wu Y., . Fabrication of Fe-Al Intermetallic/ TiC-Al₂O₃ Ceramic Composites from Ilmenite by Reaction Sintering[J]. Key Engineering Materials, 2007, 336–338: 1501-1503.

[10] Shi Y., Ni J., Xie Z. Mechanical Milling Characteristics of (Fe-Al)/Al₂O₃ Composite Nano-sized Powders[J]. Engineering Journal of Wuhan University, 2004, 37(2): 29-32.

[11] Subramanian R., McKamey C. G., Schneibel J. H., . Iron Aluminide-Al₂O₃ Composites by in situ Displacement Reactions: Processing and Mechanical Properties[J]. Mater. Sci. Engineering, 1998, A254: 119-128.

[12] Wu Y., Yin C., Zou Z., . Research on Al₂O₃-TiC/Fe-Al Composite by SHS[J]. Journal of Materials Engineering, 2005, 7: 3-6.

[13] N J Welham, P E Willis. Formation of TiN/TiC-Fe Composites from Ilmenite (FeTiO₃) Concentrate[J]. Metall. & Mater. Trans. B., 1998, (29B):1077–1083

[14] Wu Y., Yin C., Li X., . Thermodynamics on FeTiO₃-Al-C System and Preparation of Al₂O₃-TiC/Fe Composite by Ilmentie[J]. J. Chin. Ceram. Soc., 2005, 33(9): 1173-1178.

[15] Welham N. J. Mechanochemical Reaction between Ilmenite (FeTiO₃) and Aluminium[J]. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 1998, 270: 228-236.

[16] Choi Y., Rhee S. W. Reaction of TiO₂-Al-C in the Combustion Synthesis of TiC-Al₂O₃ Composite[J]. J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 1995, 78(4): 986-992.

[17] Zhang Y., Han Y., Chen G., . Ordered Structural Intermetallics[M], 2001. Beijing: National Defence Industry Press.

[18] Zou Z. Study on Process and Mechanism of Self-propagating High Temperature Synthesis of TiC/Fe and Its Application[D], 1998. Wuhan: Wuhan University of Technology.

[19] Zhang Y., Li A., Li C., . Preparation of Fe-Al Intermetallic Compounds Powder[J]. Acta Mater. Compos. Sin., 1999, 16(4): 40-43.