DENSIFICATION AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF FEMN13-TiC COMPOSITES FABRICATED BY PULSED ELECTRIC CURRENT SINTERING PROCESS

Abstract

In the present work, FeMn13-40 wt.% TiC composites was fabricated by pulsed electric current sintering (PECS) process at different temperatures between 990 and 1020°C under a pressure of 60 MPa with a holding time of 5 min in the vacuum. Phase identification was done using the X-ray diffraction. The relative density, the microstructure and the hardness of the samples were characterized. The results showed that the relative density of FeMn13-TiC composites increased with the increase of sintering temperature. The lowest porosity (3.84%) and the highest hardness (70.54 HRC) of the sample were achieved by PECS process, namely sintering at the temperature of 1020°C under the applied pressure of 60 MPa for 5 min.