Investigation of interfacial reaction in SiC fiber reinforced Ti–43Al–9V composites

Abstract SiC fiber reinforced titanium aluminides matrix composites based on TiAl (Ti–43Al–9V) were fabricated by means of matrix-coated fiber method through hot isostatic pressing. Microstructure of the SiC f /Ti–43Al–9V interfacial reaction zone in the composites was identified by means of scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The results show that three types of reaction products TiC, Ti 2 AlC and (Ti,V) 5 (Si,Al) 3 are formed between carbon coating of SiC fiber and the matrix. TiC is adjacent to the carbon coating of the SiC fiber, and (Ti,V) 5 (Si,Al) 3 is close to the matrix. Ti 2 AlC layer exists as columnar grains between TiC and (Ti,V) 5 (Si,Al) 3 layers. The TiC layer can be divided into fine-grained layer and coarse-grained layer. The fine-grained TiC layer contains amorphous carbon, and the coarse-grained TiC layer is separated from fine-grained TiC by an intermittent carbon layer. In addition, TiC particles are also formed between carbon coating and SiC. Furthermore, the formation mechanism of the interfacial reaction products was discussed.