Synthesis of NiAl-TiC composites from elemental powders by volume combustion method

ABSTRACT

NiAl-TiC composites were synthesised by volume combustion (VC) method from elemental powders to improve the mechanical properties and high temperature performance of nickel aluminide. Synthesised specimens with porous nature were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analysis. XRD results showed that NiAl was dominant phase and other phases like Al₃Ni₂ (in NiAl + 5 wt-% TiC, NiAl + 10 wt-% TiC specimens) and AlNi₃ (in equimolar NiAl-TiC) were present in specimens. Synthesised specimens of NiAl, NiAl + 5 wt-% TiC, NiAl + 10 wt-% TiC, NiAl + 15 wt-% TiC and equimolar NiAl-TiC achieved Vickers microhardness values of 508, 590.25, 628, 724 and 838.5, respectively. Addition of TiC increased the porosity of specimens from 4.7% for single phase NiAl to 60.63% for equimolar NiAl-TiC.

KEYWORDS:

• NiAl-TiC
• volume combustion
• composite

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.