Oxidation Behavior of TiC/ Fe Ceramics Produced by Self-Propagating High-Temperature Synthesis

Abstract

The key problem about the application of TiC/Fe composite ceramics in high temperature is the oxidation resistance. With an aim to investigate oxidation properties, the high density TiC/Fe ceramics was produced by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis method combined with pseudo hot iso-static pressing (SHS/PHIP). The oxidation kinetics of TiC/Fe ceramics were investigated by means of conducting the isothermal oxidation experiments in air at temperature of 550°C  900°C for up to 150 hours, and measuring the variations of the weight gains of the composites with the oxidation times. The microstructure evolution of the composites during the oxidation processing was studied by using SEM/EDS and XRD. Experimental results show that TiC/Fe ceramics basically follows a parabolic rule at high temperature. A detailed characterization of the microstructure and distribution of the phases within the scale following oxidation studies has been undertaken to suggest the possible mechanism for the oxidation of TiC/Fe ceramics.