Mechanical properties of TiC-Ni produced by SHS at room and high temperatures

Mechanical properties of TiC-Ni cermets were investigated, which were produced by a new technique - self-propagating high-temperature combustion synthesis combined with forced compaction. The results show that HRA hardness and bending strength reach the maximum values when Ni content is 20 wt%, and the maximum value of fracture toughness is obtained when Ni content is 30 wt%. At room temperature, the fracture of the cermets is characterized as brittle fracture. At high temperature, the bending strength of the cermets decreases with the increase of temperature and plastic distortion takes place beyond 1000°C. The strength of the cermets is close to that of the materials with similar composition prepared by traditional powder metallurgy process.