Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Ceramics International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ceramint Influence of SPS temperature on the properties of TiC–SiC w composites Mehdi Fattahi a , Ahad Mohammadzadeh b , Yaghoub Pazhouhanfar c , Shahrzad Shaddel d , Mehdi Shahedi Asl e,* , Abbas Sabahi Namini f,g,** a Institute of Research and Development, Duy Tan University, Da Nang, 550000, Viet Nam b Department of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Maragheh, P.O. Box 55136-553, Maragheh, Iran c Aliyazh Sanat Sahand Ipak Company, P.O. Box: 51576-13536, Tabriz, Iran d Department of Materials Engineering, Sahand University of Technology, Tabriz, Iran e Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran f Department of Engineering Sciences, Faculty of Advanced Technologies, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Namin, Iran g Department of Engineering Sciences, Faculty of Advanced Technologies, Sabalan University of Advanced Technologies (SUAT), Namin, Iran ARTICLE INFO Keywords: TiC-SiC w composite Densification Microstructural features Mechanical properties Thermal conductivity ABSTRACT Titanium carbide (TiC) composites containing 10 vol% silicon carbide whisker (SiC w ) were spark plasma sin- tered at different temperatures of 1800, 1900, and 2000 °C under a pressure of 40 MPa and a holding time of 7 min. At the sintering temperature of 1900 °C, the relative density, Vickers hardness, and flexural strength of the sintered samples hit their maximum values of 98.7%, 24.4 GPa, and 511 MPa, respectively. The microstructural characteristics of the sintered samples were assessed by optical and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and XRD. The results revealed that at 1900 °C, the dispersion of SiC w in the TiC matrix was homo- genous, no chemical reaction took place between the reinforcement and the matrix, and produced a fine-grained microstructure. It was found that the thermal conductivity of SPSed samples did not have the same trend with relative density and mechanical properties. A maximum value of 32.3 W/mK was measured for the thermal conductivity of the composite sintered at 2000 °C. 1. Introduction Titanium carbide has been extensively used in the high-performance cutting tools, machining materials, and ultra-high temperature appli- cations such as rocket nozzle throat liners and jet engine parts since they possess a variety of technological properties including high melting point, high chemical stability, low density, high hardness, and excellent thermal stability [1–9]. However, the weak sinterability and poor toughness of TiC materials restrict their applications under service conditions [10–19]. To improve the mechanical characteristics and densification of titanium carbide-based materials, incorporating re- inforcements, such as SiC, WC, Al 2 O 3 , TiB 2 , and ZrC with different morphologies (particles or whiskers), into TiC matrix has been devel- oped in the past few years [20–27]. It is known that the physico- mechanical characteristics of ceramic materials can be improved through reinforcing with different additives [28–38]. Silicon carbide has been extensively used as reinforcement since it enhances the me- chanical properties, promotes densification, increases oxidation re- sistance, and improves the thermal conductivity of other ceramic-based materials [39–54]. Spark plasma sintering (SPS) is one of the suitable methods for processing metal and ceramic matrix composites compared to other conventional techniques such as pressure-less sintering [25,55–66]. SPS can be employed for manufacturing near net-shaped compacts with a higher relative density and less grain growth at rela- tively lower sintering times and temperatures [67–78]. In recent years, numerous researches have evaluated the properties of SPSed TiC matrix composites, indicating that SPS is a powerful technique to consolidate these grades of materials. Babapoor et al. [55] fabricated monolithic TiC by SPS at various sintering temperatures in the range of 1800–2000 °C. They showed that 1900 °C was an optimal sintering temperature and could maximize the values of relative density (99.4%), thermal conductivity (17.9 W m -1 K -1 ), and Vickers hardness (25.7 GPa). Cheng et al. [79] produced SPSed TiC containing SiC sub- micron particles with various volume fractions (14.6, 27.7, 39.7, and 50.6 vol%) and investigated the fracture toughness (K IC ) and micro- structure of prepared composites. They showed that the maximum K IC of 5.2 MPa m 1/2 was obtained at 14.6 vol% SiC and the SiC particle addition caused grain refinement compared to the monolithic TiC. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2020.01.206 Received 24 December 2019; Received in revised form 21 January 2020; Accepted 21 January 2020 * Corresponding author. ** Corresponding author. Department of Engineering Sciences, Faculty of Advanced Technologies, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Namin, Iran. E-mail addresses: shahedi@uma.ac.ir (M. Shahedi Asl), sabahi@uma.ac.ir (A. Sabahi Namini). Ceramics International xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx 0272-8842/ © 2020 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved. Please cite this article as: Mehdi Fattahi, et al., Ceramics International, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2020.01.206