Ball milling assisted low temperature formation of iron-TiC composite

Abstract

Iron (steel) base metal matrix composites combine an excellent wear resistance and/or cutting performance with improved toughness. Fe-TiC is in particular one of significant low cost materials for wearing applications. Recently, the author has found that high energy ball milling of ilmenite-carbon mixtures can significantly reduce reaction temperatures of carbothermic reductions of ilmenite to rutile (TiO{sub 2}) during subsequent annealing. In fact, Fe and TiC are the final stable phases for mixtures of ilmenite with carbon after a complete reduction at high temperatures. It is interesting to know if the high annealing temperature requited for the formation of Fe-TiC composites can be reduced by high energy ball milling. In present work, an ilmenite-carbon mixture was ball milled at room temperature under vacuum. Reactions occurring during annealing were investigated using thermogravimetric analysis and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy. The relation between reaction temperatures and the structure of milled samples will be discussed.