Mechanical alloying of a TiC-TiN ceramic system

Reported here is a preliminary study of the mechanical alloying (MA) process of an all-ceramic-phases component, i.e., TiC + TiN. The respective ceramic powders were mixed in weight proportions of 50:50 and 70:30 and milled in a planetary ball mill at a ball-to-powder weight ratio of 20:1. High angle XRD peaks were used to calculate the lattice parameters before and after milling for different milling times. The lattice parameter measurements suggested that Ti(C,N) solid solution was formed during the MA process. Inter-particle necking was observed. The rate of the solid solution reaction seems to be independent of the compositional change in the TiC-TiN mixture. Particle size refinement is achieved mostly during the first few hours of milling.