Pulsed Current Activated Synthesis and Consolidation of Nanostructured Ti-TiC Composite and Its Mechanical Properties

Ti and CNT powders were milled by high energy ball milling. The milled powders were then simultaneously synthesized and consolidated using pulsed current activated sintering (PCAS) within one minute under the applied pressure of 80 MPa. The advantage of this process is not only rapid densification to near theoretical density but also to prevent grain growth in nano-structured materials The milling did not induce any reaction between the constituent powders. Meanwhile, PCAS of the Ti-CNT mixture produced a Ti-TiC composite according to the reaction (Ti + 0.06CNT --> 0.94Ti+0.06TiC, Ti+0.12CNT --> 0.88Ti+0.12TiC). Highly dense nanocrystalline Ti-TiC compos- ites with a relative density of up to 99.5% were obtained within one minute. The hardness and fracture toughness of the dense Ti-6mole% TiC and Ti-12 mole% TiC produced by PCAS were also investigated.