Spark plasma sintering of TiCN nanopowders in non-linear heating and loading regimes

Consolidation of commercially available nanostructured titanium carbonitride (TiCN) powder has been performed by Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) in the temperature range from 1300 to 1600 °C. The effect of non-linear heating and loading regimes on consolidation of high melting point nanocomposites has been investigated. SPS consolidated TiCN material has demonstrated near fully dense and fine homogeneous microstructure with average grains size about 150 nm. Nanohardness and fracture toughness of the TiCN nanocomposite have been measured as 33 ± 0.9 GPa and 3.2 MPa m1/2 respectively.