Effect of Preform Conditions on Synthesis of Fe3Al-TiB2-Al2O3 Composite by Self-Propagating High-Temperature Synthesis

The Fe3Al-TiB2-Al2O3 composite was prepared by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) from FeTiO3-B2O3-Al system. The standard Gibbs energy minimization method was used to calculate the equilibrium compositions of the reacting species. The effects of applied pressure of preform at 60, 80 and 100 MPa and milling duration of precursors on result products were studied. The result products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The optimum result was obtained when 100 MPa pressed preform and milling duration of 1.5 hr was used. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd.