Effect of Cr3C2 addition on the sintering of SiC-TiC composite

The densification behavior and mechanical properties of SiC-30TiC (in volume percent) composites prepared with Cr3C2 additive were investigated, By hot-pressing a SiC-30TiC-1Cr(3)C(2) specimen at 1950 degrees C, 98.5% of theoretical density was achieved and the specimen exhibited a fracture strength of 750 MPa. For the SiC-30TiC-10Cr(3)C(2) specimen, beta-alpha transformation of SiC was observed to occur during hot-pressing and in situ growth of elongated alpha-SiC grains resulted in an increase of fracture toughness, Microstructural observations using high-resolution TEM indicated that no liquid phase was present at the interfaces.