Incorporation of Metallic Components Into a Structure of Titanium Carbonitride at Ultra-High Load and Temperature of Spark Plasma Sintering and at Different Compaction Pressures During Explosive Method

The article shows the effect of ultra-high pressing load of 1,8 GPa at 1850°C during spark plasma sintering, compaction pressures of 1,56 and 2,12 GPa at 1080 and 1150°C, respectively during explosive sintering of ceramic and metallic powder mixtures on the phase composition, microstructure, grain sizes of crystalline phases, relative density, linear shrinkage, microstructural features of boundary layers, microcracks paths, physico-mechanical properties of mullite–(Ti,Cr,V,Mo)(C,N)–c-ZrO₂–β-Si₃N₄–c–BN–Mo–V–Cr and mullite–(Ti,Cr,V,Mo)(C,N)– β-Si₃N₄–B₄C–Mo–V–Cr samples. Synthesized powders Ti(C_0.7N_0.3), β-Si₃N₄, B₄C, h-BN are characterized by different crystallization intensity of phases Ti(C_0.7N_0.3), β-Si₃N₄, B₄C, and h-BN, respectively. Spark plasma-sintered c-ZrO₂ at 1400°C shows intensive crystallization of the c-ZrO₂ phase, as well as crystalline, uniform and dense microstructure. The samples sintered by spark plasma method at ultra-high pressing load of 1,8 GPa show intensive mullitization, crystallization of (Ti,Cr,V,Mo)(C,N), β-SiAlON, c-ZrO₂, γ-Si₃N₄, and c-C₃N₄ phases, more crystalline, uniform and densely sintered microstructures, polydisperse grains of crystalline phases at 1850°C unlike the samples produced by the explosive sintering. The samples sintered by different methods differ by density, homogeneity, path, width of the boundary layers of ceramic phases, and propagating microcracks across these boundary layers, resistance to cracking, as well as different values of physico-mechanical properties.