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CERAMICS
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Ceramics International 40 (2014) 8165–8171
www.elsevier.com/locate/ceramint

Microstructure and mechanical properties of in situ TiAl/Ti2AlC composites

prepared by reactive hot pressing
Chen-hui Yangn, Fen Wang, Tao-tao Ai, Jian-feng Zhu
Key Laboratory of Auxiliary Chemistry & Technology for Chemical Industry, Ministry of Education, Shaanxi University of Science & Technology,
Xi’an 710021, PR China
Received 10 October 2013; received in revised form 3 January 2014; accepted 3 January 2014
Available online 10 January 2014

Abstract

TiAl/Ti2AlC composites with a broad range of composition are successfully fabricated utilizing in-situ reactive hot pressing method with Ti,
Al and TiC powders as starting materials. Effects of the Ti2AlC contents from 0 wt% to 75 wt% on the microstructure and mechanical properties
of the composites were investigated. The phase transformation at different temperature was characterized by XRD, and the microstructures were
measured by SEM equipped with EDS. The result shows that Ti reacted with Al to form TiAl intermetallics below 900 1C; and above 900 1C,
TiAl reacted with TiC to produce dense composites. The products sintered at 1300 1C have obvious lamellar structure. With the increasing of the
Ti2AlC content, the density and hardness of the TiAl/Ti2AlC composites increase gradually, the fracture toughness and bending strength reach the
peak value of 7.78 MPa m1/2 and 486 MPa at 15 wt%Ti2AlC content. The strengthening mechanism of the composites was also discussed.
Crown Copyright & 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.

Keywords: C. Mechanical properties; TiAl/Ti2AlC; Reactive hot pressing; Microstructure

1. Introduction merits of both metals and ceramics. Especially, Ti2AlC, the

TiAl-based alloy (γ-TiAl þ α2-Ti3Al) has been extensively
investigated over the past few decades as candidate material in
aircraft engines and high-temperature structural applications
because of its excellent properties, such as low density, high
melting point, good creep characteristics, excellent oxidation/
corrosion resistance [1–4]. It is well recognized that mechan-
ical properties of the γ-TiAl alloys are very sensitive to their
microstructure, which varies appreciably with changes in
minor alloying composition and processing parameters [5–8].
Therefore, the intermetallic matrix composites (IMCs) have
been developed to provide the right combination of high-
temperature strength and creep resistance, and to resolve the
problems of poor ductility and toughness at ambient tempera-
tures [9]. Compounds, like Al2O3, TiB2, Ti5Si3, and Ti2AlC,
have been identified as compatible and thermochemically
stable reinforcing phases for the γ-TiAl matrix [9–12].
Introduction of amount of Ti2AlC particles into the TiAl
matrix to form TiAl/Ti2AlC composites may help to get the
n
Corresponding author. Tel.: þ8615191434454; fax: þ 862986168688.
E-mail address: ych488@163.com (C.-h. Yang).
layered ternary compound, possesses unique properties such as
low density, easy machinability, excellent electrical and
thermal conductivity, high yield strength, a low thermal
expansion coefficient, and good thermal shock and oxidation
resistance [13–17]. Besides, the density and thermal expansion
coefficient of the Ti2AlC ceramic (4.11 g/cm3 and 8.8  10  6
K  1) are close to those of the TiAl (3.8 g/cm3 and 12  10  6
K  1) [18,19] which would largely avoid the phenomena of
segregation of the ceramic particles and reduce the inner stress
between ceramic and matrix during the fabrication of the
composites.
In this study, TiAl/Ti2AlC composites with a broad range of
composition were prepared with the elemental powder mix-
tures consisting of Ti, Al, and TiC at different stoichiometries.
The phase evolution and the microstructure and mechanical
properties of the products were investigated in details.
2. Experiments procedure
Ti (50 μm, 99.3% purity), Al (75 μm, 99.5% purity) and TiC
(75 μm, 99.05% purity) powders were used as the raw
materials. For the preparation of TiAl and Ti2AlC in situ

0272-8842/$ - see front matter Crown Copyright & 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2014.01.012
8166 C.-h. Yang et al. / Ceramics International 40 (2014) 8165–8171

Table 1
The compositions of the samples (wt%).

Specimens no. TiC (g) Ti (g) Al (g) Theoretical targeted products

C0 0 15.99 9.01 TiAl

C1 1.67 14.92 8.41 TiAl/15 wt%Ti2AlC
C2 3.33 13.86 7.81 TiAl/30 wt%Ti2AlC
C3 5.00 12.79 7.21 TiAl/45 wt%Ti2AlC
C4 6.67 11.72 6.61 TiAl/60 wt%Ti2AlC
C5 8.33 10.66 6.01 TiAl/75 wt%Ti2AlC

composites, the powder mixtures containing Ti, Al, and TiC

under the stoichiometry of the following reaction:
ð1þ xÞTi þ ð1 þ xÞAl þ TiC-xTiAl þ Ti2 AlC ð1Þ
And the detailed compositions of the samples were listed in
Table 1.
First, the blend of powders was ball milled in alcohol for 1 h
and then dried at 40 1C for dozens of hours. The powder
particle size after ball milling was basically unchanged due to
only the uniform mixing action. Then the milled powders were
compacted uniaxially under 10 MPa in a graphite mold and
coated with BN inside. The compacted samples with 15 wt%
Ti2AlC were hot press sintered in vacuum (less than
6.0  10  2 Pa) at a rate of 9 1C/min to the final processing
temperature of 500 1C, 600 1C, 700 1C, 900 1C, 1100 1C,
1200 1C, 1300 1C, and 1400 1C, respectively, and held for
2 h under a pressure of 16 MPa. The compacted samples of the
different mixture ratio were heated at 1300 1C and held for 2 h
under a pressure of 16 MPa. Finally, the samples were cooled
down to room temperature in the furnace. The surfaces of Fig. 1. XRD patterns of the TiAl/15 wt%Ti2AlC composite sintered at
samples were ground to remove graphite layer. The phase 500–1400 1C.
analysis of the sintered bulks was identified by X-ray diffrac-
tion (XRD, D/max-2200 PC X, Cu target, Kα radiation (40 kV following formulas:
and 30 mA)), a scanning step of 0.021 and scanning rate of 81/
s ¼ 3PL=ð2bh2 Þ ð2Þ
min were used. The microstructures of the samples were
investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM, JSM-
K IC ¼ Y  3PLa1=2 =ð2BW 2 Þ ð3Þ
6700, JEOL Ltd, Japan) equipped with energy dispersive
spectroscopy (EDS). where P is the breaking load of the specimen, and L, b, h, Y
The density of TiAl/Ti2AlC composites with different and a denote the span, width, height, geometrical factor, and
contents of Ti2AlC was measured by the Archimedes method. notch length of the specimen, respectively. The bending
Hardness measurements were performed at room temperature strength and fracture toughness were calculated by averaging
on the HXD-1000 tester (Shanghai second optical Ltd, China) five individual measurements.
with a diamond indenter under a 1000 N load for 15 s. The
measurement of the bending strength and fracture toughness 3. Results and discussion
were conducted in a universal material testing machine (PT-
1036PC, Perfect Instrument Co. Ltd, Taiwan China). The 3.1. Phase transformation
specimens for bending strength and fracture toughness testing
were 3  4  30 mm3 in size. The single-edge notched beam Fig. 1 shows the X-ray diffraction patterns of TiAl/15 wt%
(SENB) method with a notch depth of 0.45W (W is the width Ti2AlC composite hot pressed at the different temperatures
of specimen) and 0.15 mm in width made by the electrical (500 1C, 600 1C, 700 1C, 900 1C, 1100 1C, 1200 1C, 1300 1C,
discharge method, was used for the fracture toughness testing. and 1400 1C) for 2 h. The XRD pattern of the sample with 15 wt%
The measurement of the bending strength and the fracture Ti2AlC at 500 1C shows that there are merely Ti, Al and TiC
toughness were performed at a crosshead speed of 0.5 and diffraction peaks and no new phase appears, which indicates that
0.05 mm/min with a span of 25 mm, respectively. The bending no reaction generates in the starting materials at the temperature.
strength and fracture toughness were determined with the When the sintering temperature increases to 600 1C, the new
 C.-h. Yang et al. / Ceramics International 40 (2014) 8165–8171
Fig. 2. XRD patterns of the TiAl/Ti2AlC composites with different Ti2AlC
content sintered at 1300 1C.
phases TiAl3, TiAl and Ti3Al emerge, and Ti, Al and TiC of the
starting materials still exist, which indicates that solid state reaction
occurs between Ti and Al. The three phases TiAl3, TiAl and Ti3Al
are generated before the melting point of Al, gradually and orderly.
The reason may be diffusion reaction occurs between outside
surfaces of a large number Ti and Al powders and formed new
phases TiAl3, TiAl and Ti3Al on contact layer of powders. When
sintering temperature reaches 700 1C, the diffraction peaks of Al
almost disappear and that of TiAl3 increase, so Al reacted with Ti
generate intermetallic TiAl3; but unreacted Ti still remains and the
phases TiAl and Ti3Al exist synchronously. When sintering
temperature reaches 900 1C, the main phase is TiAl, the peak
value of TiAl increases and poor peak value of Ti3Al remains.
TiAl3 and Ti disappear completely, which means that Ti reacts
completely. Below 900 1C, the peak value of TiC remains
unconverted, so TiC does not participate in reaction. This result
indicates that the reaction occurs only between Ti and Al.
At 1100 1C and 1200 1C, it is evident that the TiC phase
reduces and the peaks of Ti2AlC appear and intensify
significatively. It is considered that the reaction occurs:
TiAl þ TiC-Ti2AlC. At 1300 1C and 1400 1C, TiC phase
disappears, which means that TiC reacts completely. And the
diffraction peak of TiAl remains mainly and the peak value of
Ti2AlC increases finely at 1300 1C. Moreover, a tiny peak of
Ti3Al almost disappears at 1400 1C. The presence of Ti3Al in
the final product has often been observed in the formation of
TiAl as an intermediate phase. The synthesis temperature of
1300 1C in this work is much lower than that of 1400 1C. This
result indicates that the two-phase TiAl alloy and TiAl/Ti2AlC
composites could be fabricated in situ by the method of hot
press sintering in vacuum in the Ti–Al–TiC system at 1300 1C.
3.2. Effect of the Ti2AlC contents in composites
Fig. 2 shows the XRD patterns of the samples with different
Ti2AlC contents at 1300 1C. It can be seen in Fig. 2 that the
8167
TiAl/0 wt%Ti2AlC sample with no addition of Ti2AlC mainly
consists of γ-TiAl and α2-Ti3Al phase. With the addition of the
Ti2AlC, the Ti2AlC phase begins to appear and their intensity
increases with increase of Ti2AlC contents. With Ti2AlC and
TiAl phase, their strongest peaks are about similar at the TiAl/
30 wt%Ti2AlC sample. And before 30 wt% of Ti2AlC content,
small proportion adding Ti2AlC reinforced TiAl matrix, this
result indicates that the TiAl/15 wt%Ti2AlC composite could
be fabricated in situ hot pressing in the Ti–Al–TiC system. But
after 30 wt% of Ti2AlC content, due to a broad range addition
of Ti2AlC, the peak value of strengthening phase Ti2AlC
become stronger than that of TiAl phase with increase of
Ti2AlC content. However, Ti3Al phase is no longer detected,
and TiC appears simultaneously in the composites with 60 wt%
of Ti2AlC and above. The presence of TiC in the final product
has often been observed in the formation of Ti3AlC2 and Ti2AlC
as an intermediate phase.
Fig. 3 shows the polished surfaces following etching of the
bulk samples with 15–75 wt%Ti2AlC sintered at 1300 1C,
orderly marked a–e. The synthesized Ti2AlC particles in the
TiAl/15 wt%Ti2AlC sample, as shown in Fig. 3(a), segregate
in the grain boundary with the fine particles and the less cluster
form. The different stripes direction of the different corroded
crystalline grain surfaces of the TiAl matrix are thought to be
the fine lamellar structure of the TiAl matrix, and not scratches
as a result of the surface polished. With the increase in the
content of the synthesized Ti2AlC particles, the ceramic
particles distribute more densely to agglomerate the large
groups as shown in Fig. 3(b)–(e). On the contrary, the grain
morphology size and distribution of the TiAl phase becomes
less and more sparsely with the increase of the synthesized
Ti2AlC particles.
The TiAl and Ti2AlC phases can be detected in Fig. 3(a)–
(e) as marked as þ 1, þ 2… þ 10. Corresponding with the
results of the energy-dispersive spectra (EDS) shown in
Table 2, it can be obviously seen that the two phases differ
of atomic ratio of C. The grain sizes of TiAl and Ti2AlC
phases change simultaneously step by step, from 5 μm to
70 μm and from 60 μm to 5 μm, approximately. In Fig. 3(d)
and (e), the large group Ti2AlC grains cluster appears. Such
microstructural evolution is resulted from the inhibition
effect of TiC grains to the TiAl grain growth and the
grain-boundary mobility. Corresponding with the XRD results
of the samples with 60 wt% and 75 wt%Ti2AlC shown in Fig. 2,
it can be seen that the composition are crucial for the micro-
structure.
3.3. Mechanical properties
Fig. 4 displays the density and hardness of the TiAl/Ti2AlC
composites with increasing contents of in situ formed Ti2AlC.
The hardness decreases slightly from 2.93 GPa to 2.83 GPa as
Ti2AlC contents increase from 0 wt% to 30 wt%. The decrease
in hardness is mainly attributed to the increasing content of the
in situ formed Ti2AlC under TiAl matrix for breaking the
inherent binding force of TiAl grain boundaries. The TiAl/30 wt%
Ti2AlC composite has the lowest hardness, due to much Ti2AlC
8168 C.-h. Yang et al. / Ceramics International 40 (2014) 8165–8171

Fig. 3. SEM images of the samples with (a) 15 wt%, (b) 30 wt%, (c) 45 wt%, (d) 60 wt%, and (e) 75 wt%Ti2AlC particles, respectively.

Table 2 30 wt% to 75 wt%, that result from higher hardness of Ti2AlC

The results of the energy-dispersive spectra(EDS) of the TiAl/Ti2AlC samples. phase than that of TiAl phase, and Ti2AlC phase is so enough that
it becomes the main phase.
Ti (at%) Al (at%) C (at%)
The density gradually increases from 3.794 g/cm3 to
Point 1 56.95 29.96 13.09 3.955 g/cm3 with the content of Ti2AlC increasing from 0 wt
Point 2 56.31 43.69 0 % to 75 wt%. The increase of density results from greater
Point 3 43.96 42.70 13.34 density of (4.11 g/cm3) Ti2AlC than that of (3.83 g/cm3) TiAl.
Point 4 41.56 58.44 0
Point 5
And that the measured density of all products is above 99% of
60.74 29.25 10.01
Point 6 46.85 53.15 0 the theoretical density, which means that the synthesized TiAl/
Point 7 59.84 30.46 09.70 Ti2AlC composites are nearly full dense.
Point 8 41.16 58.84 0 Fig. 5 shows the SEM micrograph of the indentation tested
Point 9 58.88 29.41 11.71 at 1000 N for the TiAl/15 wt%Ti2AlC sample, it is seen that
Point 10 48.97 51.03 0
there are few cracks along the diagonals of the indent and the
immediate vicinity of the indentation, and the microdamage is
little or no. The indentation on the polished surface of the
particles for TiAl matrix, but Ti2AlC phase is not enough to TiAl/15 wt%Ti2AlC sample shows the symmetry feature,
become the main phase. However, the hardness increases which may be attributed to the isotropy of the TiAl/15 wt%
from 2.83 GPa to 3.73 GPa with Ti2AlC contents increased from Ti2AlC composite. Combined with the SEM analysis,
 C.-h. Yang et al. / Ceramics International 40 (2014) 8165–8171
Fig. 4. The density and hardness of the TiAl/Ti2AlC composites with different
Ti2AlC content.
Fig. 5. SEM morphology of the indentation of the TiAl/15 wt%Ti2AlC sample
tested at 1000 N.
a number of energy-absorbing mechanisms explain that
Ti2AlC particles inhibit crack formation in the TiAl/Ti2AlC
composites in Fig. 7.
Fig. 6 indicates the bending strength and fracture
toughness of TiAl/Ti 2 AlC composites with different
in situ formed Ti2AlC contents. It can be clearly seen that
bending strength and fracture toughness increase from
460 MPa to 486 MPa and from 7.19 MPa m 1/2 to 7.78 MPa
m 1/2 as the content of Ti 2AlC increasing from 0 wt% to
15 wt%. While sf and K IC reach the maximum value of
486 MPa and 7.78 MPa m 1/2 at 15 wt%Ti 2AlC content, and
then they decrease dramatically approaching to the lowest
values of 264 MPa and 4.83 MPa m 1/2 at 75 wt%Ti 2AlC.
The bending strength and fracture toughness increase, due
to a small amount of Ti 2AlC introduction and uniform
distribution of fine crystal grains. However, they decrease
due to the introduction of too much Ti 2AlC, and smaller
values of bending strength and fracture toughness of
Ti 2AlC than that of TiAl. So the optimum Ti 2AlC intro-
duction proportion is 15 wt%, at which the bending
8169
Fig. 6. The bending strength and fracture toughness of the TiAl/Ti2AlC
composites with different Ti2AlC content.
strength and the fracture toughness are increased by
14.35% and 11.41%, respectively.
The typical properties of the composites are summarized in
Table 3. The as-prepared composites exhibit a significant
increase in the density and hardness, because of greater density
and higher hardness of Ti2AlC than that of TiAl. However, the
bending strength and fracture toughness have the maximum
values of 7.78 MPa m1/2 and 486 MPa at 15 wt%Ti2AlC due to
a small amount of Ti2AlC particles reinforce TiAl. In other
words, it results from the second phase strengthening effect
that the high hardness (4.5 GPa) and proper content of in situ
formed Ti2AlC with small particle size result in higher
deformation resistance and residual stress toughening. The
toughening of the composite is a result of diminishing the
residual compressive stress intensity at the tip of the deflected
crack because αp o αm (αp is 7.1 7 0.3  10  6 K  1 for Ti2AlC
and αm is 10.8  10  6 K  1 for TiAl). These conclusions are in
agreement with the results drawn from the SEM microstruc-
tures (Fig. 3) and mechanical properties (Figs. 4 and 6).
Fig. 7 shows the crack propagation patterns of TiAl/Ti2AlC
composites with different content of Ti2AlC, in which some
mixed complex fracture modes are observed including inter-
granular, transgranular, lamellar tearing in the layered TiAl/
Ti2AlC composites, delaminating fractures with crack-brid-
ging, branching and deflection. The zigzag crack propagation
in the TiAl/Ti2AlC composites is caused by the presence of
dispersed Ti2AlC particles with uniform distribution, and then
increases the propagation distance of the cracks, and finally
enhances the bending strength and fracture toughness of the
materials. When too much Ti2AlC particles in the composites,
the composites will be split, and then the bending strength and
fracture toughness of the TiAl/Ti2AlC composites decrease.
This can be confirmed by the fracture surface of the samples
with 30–75 wt%Ti2AlC shown in Fig. 7(b)–(e). Thus, the
bending strength and fracture toughness of the composites
increase first, and then become saturated up to the TiAl/15 wt%
Ti2AlC sample which possesses the best properties due to the
more uniformly distributed Ti2AlC particles with the moderate
content, and finally decrease.
8170 C.-h. Yang et al. / Ceramics International 40 (2014) 8165–8171

Table 3
Summary of typical properties of the as-prepared TiAl/Ti2AlC composites, together with those from Ref. [20] for comparison.

Properties TiAl 15 wt%Ti2AlC 30 wt%Ti2AlC 45 wt%Ti2AlC 60 wt%Ti2AlC 75 wt%Ti2AlC Ti2AlC

Density (g/cm3) 3.79470.010 3.84170.009 3.88170.006 3.89970.010 3.92770.009 3.95570.008 4.1

Hardness (GPa) 2.9370.04 2.927 0.04 2.8370.05 3.6170.03 3.7270.05 3.7370.04 4.5
Bending strength (MPa) 460721 4867 16 4467 14 405 720 325 721 264 724 466
Fracture toughness (MPa m1/2) 7.1970.09 7.787 0.13 6.3670.12 5.8970.12 5.1570.10 4.8370.12 5.37
Source In this work [20]

Fig. 7. SEM images of the fractured surfaces of the samples with (a) 15 wt%, (b) 30 wt%, (c) 45 wt%, (d) 60 wt%, and (e) 75 wt%Ti2AlC particles, respectively.

4. Conclusion mainly due to the generation of Ti2AlC particles in the TiAl

The TiAl/Ti2AlC composites with a broad range of compo-
sition can be successfully fabricated utilizing in-situ reactive
hot pressing method in the Ti–Al–TiC system. The reaction of
the Ti–Al–TiC system: below 900 1C, Ti reacted with Al to
form TiAl intermetallics; above 900 1C, TiAl reacted with TiC
to produce dense TiAl/Ti2AlC composites. The addition of the
TiC powder improves the mechanical properties of TiAl
matrix. The TiAl/15 wt%Ti2AlC composite possesses the
highest bending strength of 486 MPa (net increase 14.35%),
the highest fracture toughness of 7.78 MPa m1/2 (net increase
11.41%), and lower density of 3.84 g/cm3 (only increase
0.05 g/cm3), due to the uniformly distributed Ti2AlC grains
with the moderate content. With the increase of the synthesized
Ti2AlC particles, the ceramic particles distribute more densely
to agglomerate the large groups, which lead to the decrease of
 C.-h. Yang et al. / Ceramics International 40 (2014) 8165–8171
mechanical properties and the increase of density. For the same
reason, cracks propagate from small to big and from narrow to
wide, and the TiAl/Ti2AlC composites are increasingly split,
and then the bending strength and fracture toughness decrease.
Acknowledgment
This work was supported by the National Foundation of Natural
Science, China (51171096, 50802057), and the Graduate Innova-
tion Fund of Shaanxi University of Science and Technology.
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