Abstract
High strength SiC whisker-reinforced Ti3SiC2 composites (SiCw/Ti3SiC2) with an improved thermal conductivity and mechanical properties were fabricated by spark plasma sintering. The bending strength of 10 wt% SiCw/Ti3SiC2 was 635 MPa, which was approximately 50% higher than that of the monolithic Ti3SiC2 (428 MPa). The Vickers hardness and thermal conductivity (k) also increased by 36% and 25%, respectively, from the monolithic Ti3SiC2 by the incorporation of 10 wt% SiCw. This remarkable improvement both in mechanical and thermal properties was attributed to the fine-grained uniform composite microstructure along with the effects of incorporated SiCw. The SiCw/Ti3SiC2 can be a feasible candidate for the in-core structural application in nuclear reactors due to the excellent mechanical and thermal properties.
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Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11975296 and 51811540402), the Natural Science Foundation of Ningbo City (Grant No. 2018A610001), and the Korea Ministry of Education (NRF-2018K2A9A2A06018203).
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Zhou, X., Jing, L., Kwon, Y.D. et al. Fabrication of SiCw/Ti3SiC2 composites with improved thermal conductivity and mechanical properties using spark plasma sintering. J Adv Ceram 9, 462–470 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40145-020-0389-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40145-020-0389-2