A TiCx reinforced Fe (Al) matrix composite using in-situ reaction

A new Fe matrix composite reinforced by the in-situ generated TiCx grains was prepared using the element Fe and Ti3AlC2 powders as the starting materials. Several hot-pressing temperatures were tried for exploring the phase transformation behavior from Ti3AlC2 to TiCx. Microstructures of the hot-pressed product were observed and analyzed. A tensile test was carried out for the new composite material, and the fracture face was analyzed. The results showed that the starting Ti3AlC2 was wholly decomposed and transformed into submicron TiCx grains at the hot-pressing temperature above 1100 °C. Most of the Al ions escaped from Ti3AlC2 were aggregated at the grain boundary of Fe grains, but a small amount of Al ions could be absorbed by Fe and formed Fe(Al) alloy around the surface of Fe grains. The prepared material exhibited a higher tensile strength of about 660 MPa and a uniform deformation of about 7%.