Fabrication of SiC/Ti₃SiC₂/TiC Ceramic Composites by Pressureless Sintering of 3TiC/2.2Si/0.2Al

SiC/Ti3SiC2/TiC composites were fabricated by means of pressureless sintering using the 3TiC/2.2Si/0.2Al as raw materials. At the temperatures from 1000C to 1200 C, the main phase of the composite synthesized was Ti3SiC2. At the same time, there was a small amount of TiC and SiC existing. The composite had loose microstructure. At the temperature of 1300 C, the TiC and Ti3SiC2 were the primary phases. And the SiC was the second phase. The SEM images showed that there were two kinds of microstructures in the composite. One was the Ti3SiC2 and the TiC platelets on its surface, another one was the TiC and the SiC equixed grains in its interior.