Abstract
The oxidation characteristics of pure hot-pressed titanium carbide and titanium boride (TiB2) have been studied in the range 300°–1000° C.
Titanium carbide shows a very marked peak in the rate of oxidation at ∼450° C., the oxidation product at this temperature being anatase (TiO2) which is powdery and non-adherent; the oxidation thus follows a linear law. Above ∼700° C. the rate increases rapidly again and is approximately parabolic. The scale in this case consists of a dense crystalline film of rutile.
The oxidation of the boride is less rapid than that of the carbide over the whole temperature range but it, too, shows a slight peak at 450° C. The oxidation tends to be parabolic at higher temperatures. The nature of the oxidation products has not been determined.
Notes
* Manuscript received 11 February 1959. This paper gives the substance of a contribution made by Dr. Ransley at the Symposium on “The Powder Metallurgy of Metal-Ceramic Materials” held in London on 17 December 1958.