Microwave Synthesis of the Composites (α-Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>+TiB<sub>2</sub>)/NiAl from Al-TiO-B-Ni System

Abstract

NiAl matrix composites reinforced with a-Al2O3 and TiB2 were fabricated by microwave synthesis from Al-TiO2-B-Ni system. The reaction process and microstructures were analyzed by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM).The results showed that the ignition temperatures of the reaction heating by microwave and conventional method were approximately 556°C and 592°C respectively. Furthermore, the fabrication time by microwave synthesis was about several minutes, which was much shorter than two hours spent usually in conventional heating method. The a-Al2O3 phase aggregated at the trigonal grain boundary of the NiAl matrix, and the TiB2 phase distributed uniformly in the NiAl matrix.