DEFORMATION OF ALUMINA TITANIUM CARBIDE COMPOSITE AT ELEVATED-TEMPERATURES

The deformation behavior of an Al2O3/30 wt% TiC composite in uniaxial tension was evaluated under vacuum over the temperature range of 1300-degrees to 1550-degrees-C. The Al2O3/TiC composite exhibited the maximum elongation of 66% at an initial strain rate of 1.19 x 10(-4) s-1 at 1550-degrees-C. The stress exponent calculated from peak stresses of true stresstrue strain curves at 1500-degrees-C was 3.8, which was in good agreement with that obtained by changing the crosshead speed during the tension test. The apparent activation energy at 20 MPa was 853 kJ/mol. In addition the deformation of the Al2O3/TiC composite in uniaxial tension at elevated temperature was accompanied by cavitation.