In-situ synthesis of NiAl/WC composites by thermal explosion reaction

In this study, high density NiAl/WC composite was successfully fabricated by a novel in-situ synthesis thermal explosion reaction method using Ni, Al and WC commercial powders as starting materials. In-situ synthesis of NiAl/WC composites requires the thermal explosion(TE) reaction to be ignited and fully controlled to maintain the geometry of the compressed parts. The temperature profiles were measured to monitor the reaction process. The results show that increasing WC content can increase the ignition temperature and decrease the maximum temperature in the synthesis process. Single phase NiAl can be produced by this new process regardless of the addition of WC. Microhardness of the products were tested to evaluate the performance of the synthesized composites. This work offers a low cost approach to NiAl/WC composites due to the very low synthesis temperature and extremely short processing time.