THE USE OF A SINGLE-FIBER TEST TECHNIQUE TO INVESTIGATE INTERFACIAL PHENOMENA IN SIC TI3AL-BASED COMPOSITES/

A study of the chemical compatibility of a Ti3Al-based alloy (Ti-24Al- 10Nb, at.%) with two silicon carbide continuous fibres (SCS-6, SM1240) has been conducted. Owing to the difficulty in processing intermetall ic matrix composites, this type of material has been simulated in the present work by sputtering a thin titanium aluminide layer onto fibres and heat treating at temperatures representative of fabrication condi tions. The degradation of the fibre strength due to its interaction wi th the matrix was correlated with analytical studies of the fibre/matr ix interface using a combination of SEM, TEM, EELS and a submicrometre ion probe.