Mechanical properties of (Ti2AlC+Ti3AlC)-TiAl ceramic-intermetallic laminate (CIL) composites

The process of hot pressing and reaction annealing was employed to fabricate the (Ti2AlC+Ti3AlC)-TiAl ceramic-intermetallic laminate (CIL) composite sheets. The composite in the final state consists of (α2+γ) layers (Ti5Si3 particles as reinforcement) and carbide layers (containing Ti2AlC and Ti3AlC). SiC particles were introduced into the original SiCp/Al composite foils in order to obtain the controlled layered architecture. This unique layered architecture could benefit significant improvements in the work of fracture and the apparent fracture toughness of the composite. High-temperature tensile properties were also evaluated and found to be comparable to that of TiAl processed by foil metallurgy. Thus this processing approach offers the possibility of producing high quality TiAl composite sheets with relative cheap raw material.