In-situ synthesis of Ti-Si-C fine grained composite with different amount of TiC: Microstructure and mechanical properties

The present work reports the in-situ synthesis of the Ti-Si-C composite so that TiC phase is increased in the composite by suitable adjustment of starting reactants during self-propagating high temperature synthesis. The detailed microstructure and mechanical behaviour of the composite has been studied. The microstructure, density, phase present, amount of melt phase, hardness and modulus were directly affected by adiabatic temperature of the reaction. The highest value of microhardness was found to be around 2200 HV0.05. The nanoindentation revealed the hardness range from 22 to 12 GPa and modulus varied from 445 to 281 GPa for different percentages of TiC into matrix.