Effect of electric current on diffusion of aluminum in Ti₃AlC₂ into zirconium alloy

Abstract

The spark plasma sintering (SPS) method was used to study the mechanism of reaction interface between Zr and Ti₃AlC₂ with electric current going through it. It was found that electric current greatly reduced the bonding temperature of Zr and Ti₃AlC₂. By the micro-structure analysis of the interface through SEM/EDS, it was found that Al atoms diffused from the Ti₃AlC₂ substrate into the Zr side and reacted with Zr to form the Zr-Al compounds at the interface, which is the strengthening mechanism of Ti₃AlC₂-Zr bonding. The thickness of reaction layers (Zr-Al alloy) was from 0.879 to 13.945 mm depending on different sintering condition. Current direction, heating rate, soaking time, pulse patterns all influenced the diffusion of Al atoms which affected the joining quality of Zr and Ti₃AlC₂.

Keywords

MAX phase / diffusion bonding / SPS / electric current effect

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