Mechanical activation of the reactive sintering of titanium carbide

This paper describes the mechanical alloying of Ti and C powders by intensi ve grinding in a planetary mill. The effect of milling conditions and initi al composition on the compositional homogeneity and properties of powders a nd samples consolidated by hot-pressing was studied try x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and surface area measurement. The diffraction patterns indicated that a powder mixture ground for 24 hours transforms to TiC after sintering for only one minute at 600 degrees C under a pressure of 3 GPa.