Melt-infiltration processing of TiC/Ni₃Al composites

A simple melt-infiltration processing route has been developed for the fabrication of TiC/Ni₃Al ceramic/intermetallic composites, which involves a combination of infiltration and subsequent liquid phase sintering. For Ni₃Al contents from 8 to 25 vol. %, densities in excess of 98% of theoretical are readily obtained when processing at 1450 °C. TiC and Ni3Al are the only phases detected in the densified materials. Ni₃Al ductility is retained after processing, leading to the possibility of ductile phase toughened TiC composites for elevated temperature applications (up to ∼1100 °C).