The use of copper as an accelerator for the formation of titanium aluminide intermetallic compounds

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Department of Material Science and Engineering, Birjand University of Technology, Birjand, Iran

2 Department of Civil Engineering, Birjand University of Technology, Birjand, Iran

Abstract

Titanium aluminides have received much attention due to their suitable properties such as lightness, maintaining strength at high temperatures, and resistance to corrosion and oxidation. Therefore, titanium aluminides and their composite play a key role in the industry, especially in urban transportation and aviation industries. The melting of aluminum is recognized as the first step of the titanium aluminide formation process from elemental powders or raw materials of TiO2 and Al. Facilitating the aluminum smelting could be a contributing factor to accelerating the titanium aluminide-generating procedure. Selecting copper as an agent to reduce the melting point of aluminum is based on the binary phase diagram of Al-Cu in which a eutectic transformation is obvious. Different molar ratios of copper were added to the raw materials of aluminum and titania. Then the resulting compressed powder samples were subjected to heat treatment. It was found that up to a certain molar ratio, copper could reduce aluminum's melting temperature and promote the formation of titanium aluminide intermetallic compounds. The optimal amount of copper (0.2) has also greatly contributed to the uniformity and homogeneity of the composite structure. In general, in this research, the effect of copper on the production of titanium aluminide has been discussed both theoretically and practically.

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AUT Journal of Mechanical Engineering
Volume 7, Issue 1
March 2023
Pages 4-4

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