INTERMETALLIC COMPOSITES

INTERMETALLIC COMPOUNDS ARE KNOWN FOR THEIR HIGH MELTING POINTS AND CORROSION AND OXIDATION RESISTANCE. MANY OF THESE COMPOUNDS HAVE LOW DENSITIES AND VERY HIGH STRENGTHS AND, THEREFORE, ARE OF INTEREST FOR HIGH TEMPERATURE AEROSPACE AND SPACE STRUCTURE APPLICATIONS. HOWEVER,CONVENTIONAL PROCESSING OF INTERMETALLIC COMPOUNDS SUFFERS SEVERE LIMITATIONS: REACTIONS WITH CONTAINERS, POROSITY, CONTAMINATION OF POWDER SURFACES, AND COMPOSITIONAL INHOMOGENEITIES. RECENT WORK ON LOW TEMPERATURE CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION (CVD) OF METALS FROM ORGANOMETALLIC COMPOUNDS SUGGESTS THE POSSIBILITY OF FABRICATING CERTAIN INTERMETALLIC COMPOUNDS BY CVD. BECAUSE ORGANOMETALLIC CVD OPERATES AT LOW TEMPERATURE, EMPLOYS HIGHLY PURE STARTING MATERIALS, DEPOSITS MATERIAL UNIFORMLY, AND REQUIRES COMPARATIVELY LITTLE MATERIALS HANDLING, IT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS DESCRIBED ABOVE. IN THE PROPOSED PHASE I STUDY, APPROACHES FOR CHEMICALLY VAPOR DEPOSITING TITANIUM ALUMINIDE WILL BE EXAMINED. SUITABLE SOURCE REAGENTS FOR TITANIUM AND ALUMINUM WILL BE EXPLORED AND THEN SYNTHESIZED. STRATEGIES FOR CHEMICALLY VAPOR DEPOSITING THE INTERMETALLIC WILL BE DEVELOPED TO SYNTHESIZE TITANIUM ALUMINIDE FOR PHYSICAL PROPERTY CHARACTERIZATION.