Microstructural analysis of titanium aluminide formed in situ in an aluminium matrix composite

Abstract

Titanium aluminide formed in an aluminium matrix composite in situ by hot pressing of titanium and aluminium powders mixture and then annealing was characterized using SEM and TEM methods. It was shown that the original titanium powder was transformed into the intermetallics during the solid state process. Two mechanisms of titanium powder transformation were found, namely diffusion growth and self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS). We describe the morphology of the very fine Al3Ti particles formed during SHS. SHS process does not guarantee a clean interface, with oxygen being identified at some sites on the particle-matrix interface.