Characterization of sintered TiC–SiC composites

TiC–SiC composites were fabricated using TiC and SiC powders as starting materials at the range of 1650–2000 °C in Ar atmosphere by two-step method. In the first step, the ingots with intragranular SiC or TiC particle were prepared by arc-melting technique, subsequently, crushed and ground into TiC and SiC composite powders. In the second step, TiC–SiC composites were sintered using these as-prepared composite powders by SPS method. It was concluded that these TiC–SiC composites prepared by two-step method showed more excellent properties than that prepared by arc-melting technique. The hardness of the fabricated TiC–SiC composites was 25–27 GPa at the load of 0.98–9.8 N, which was obviously greater than that of arc-melting composites. The thermal conductivity of the TiC–SiC composites was 18–48 W K−1 m−1 at the range of 298–1273 K and slightly decreased with increasing temperature. The electrical conductivity of the composites was (2–5) × 105 S m−1 at the range of 298–1273 K and slightly decreased with increasing temperature.