SELF PROPAGATING HIGH TEMPERATURE SYNTHESIS AND DYNAMIC COMPACTION OF TITANIUM CARBIDE (TIC) TITANIUM BORIDE (TIB2)

SELF PROPAGATING HIGH TEMPERATURE SYNTHESIS (SHS) OF TIC AND TIB2 RESULTS IN A HOT POROUS PRODUCT. IF THE TEMPERATURE OF THE PRODUCT EXCEEDS THE DUCTILE-BRITTLE TRANSITION TEMPERATURE, THE HOT PRODUCT CAN BE COMPACTED TO REDUCE POROSITY AND YIELD A CONSOLIDATED BODY WITH USEFUL STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES. SEVERAL COMPACTION TECHNIQUES HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED. AMONG THESE, EXPLOSIVELY GENERATED DYNAMIC COMPACTION (DC) HAS PROVIDED PROMISING RESULTS IN LABORATORY DEMONSTRATIONS. IN THIS PROJECT WE PROPOSE TO SCALE UP THE LABORATORY DEMONSTRATION INTO A PRODUCTION PROCESS FOR TIC AND TIB2. THE SCALED UP PROCESS WILL EMPHASIZE THE USE OF READILY AVAILABLE COMPONENTS AND PREVIOUSLY DEMONSTRATED TECHNOLOGY. PILOT SCALE PROCESS STUDIES WILL ALLOW THE ECONOMIC FACTOR OF FULL SCALE PRODUCTION TO BE EVALUATED. THIS PROJECT WILL ALSO INCLUDE PRODUCT CHARACTERIZATION AS NEEDED TO OPTIMIZE PROCESSING VARIABLES AND ASSURE QUALITY CONTROL.