Fabrication of Porous TiVAlC Ceramics with Low-Temperature Reactive Synthesis Method
Abstract Using the mixed powder of TiH2, V, Al and graphite as raw materials, porous TiVAlC ceramics were successfully prepared with the reaction synthesis method at only 1300℃. The pore-formation mechanism in the sintering process is discussed by combining XRD, pore size variation and sintering temperature. The formation of pores is mainly based on the following processes: (i) During the green compaction pressing, the pores formed by the gaps among the raw material powder particles; (ii) Stearic acid is completely decomposed at 500℃; (iii) TiH2 is completely decomposed at 700°C; (iv) Molten aluminum reacts with titanium and vanadium at 700℃ to generate titanium-aluminum and vanadium-aluminum compounds; (v) With the sintering temperature varying from 900℃ to 1100°C, excess titanium, vanadium and graphite generate a large amount of carbides (TiC, VC, TiVC2); (vi) Ti-Al and V-Al compounds react with carbides (TiC, VC, TiVC2) to form the final product TiVAlC at 1300℃.The effects of the sintering temperature on the volume expansion ratio, porosity, pore size and viscous permeability coefficient of porous TiVAlC ceramics were investigated. The results illustrated that the porosity, volume expansion rate and viscous permeability coefficient increased with the increase of sintering temperature from 700℃ to 1300℃, whereas the pore diameter first decreased from 6.2 μm to 5.0 μm, and then increased to 10.2 μm.