PROCESSING AND CHARACTERIZATION OF NANO-SIZE TiC-Cu-Ni COMPOSITES

Metal carbides have attracted much attention over the past several years due to their unique qualities. The purpose of this research is to develop a cermet that demonstrates desired properties of nano-size titanium carbide (TiC) and copper-nickel (Cu-Ni) metals. In this study stoichiometric, nano-size TiC was synthesized through a patented carbothermal synthesis process (U.S. Patent No.: 5,417,952). The resulting TiC was sintered with varying copper (12.5-37.5wt %) and nickel (12.5-25wt %) contents. Hardness, fracture toughness, and microscopy studies were performed. Average hardness ranging between 325-1292 HV were found, with copper content showing a strongly negative correlation with hardness. Fracture toughness values were found to be between 4.85-14.36 Mpa*m^.5; TiC content had a nearly linear, negative correlation with fracture toughness. Samples with high copper to nickel ratios showed poor homogeneity and wetting