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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 February 2011
Mechanical properties and phase constitution of an E21-type Ti3AlC-base alloy were investigated by compression tests in a temperature range from room temperature (RT) to 1273K, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). The unit cell of E21 Ti3AlC is constructed by ¡§L12 Ti3Al¡¨ and a carbon atom occupying the body-center octahedral-interstitial-site surrounded by the Ti atoms. The nominal composition of the alloy was chosen to be the stoichiometric composition of 60mol%Ti-20mol%Al-20mol%C. The alloy was synthesized by mechanical alloying using high purity elemental powders followed by hot pressing at 1473K for 3hrs. It was found by XRD and SEM that the alloy was mainly composed of E21 Ti3AlC in addition to Cr2AlC-type Ti2AlC precipitates as a second phase. The density of Ti3AlC is calculated to be 4.29g/cm3 based on the lattice parameter of 0.4134nm of E21. The average grain size was 2μm by SEM. By the compression tests, the 0.2% flow stress at the temperature range from RT to 1073K exceeded 1GPa. The yield stress is comparably higher than those of other E21 intermetallic carbides: at 1073K, 1084MPa for Ti3AlC, 50MPa for Mn3AlC and 135MPa for Fe3AlC. Besides, a weak positive temperature dependence of strength was observed where the peak temperature was around 900K. This suggests that a Kear-Wilsdorf type dislocation pinning mechanism may be activated. It is concluded that E21 Ti3AlC-base alloy shows promise for a new high-temperature light-weight structural material.