Assessment of Microwave Heating for Sintering of Al/SiC and for in‐situ Synthesis of TiC

This work describes sintering of SiC‐reinforced Al‐matrix composites and in‐situ synthesis of TiC in a powder mixture of Ti and C. In the first case, microwave energy is absorbed by SiC grains, heating the metal matrix to sintering and even melting temperature. The composite is processed at <1 kW microwave power. Microwave absorption and the heating rate increase with decreasing SiC particle size. Composites with high SiC content (70 vol.‐%) are processed at 650 °C/1 h in the microwave furnace, whereas conventional resistive heating at the same temperature did not allow sintering of the sample. In the second case, radiative energy allowed the heating of Ti/C samples up to 950 °C, and microwave assistance enhanced the reaction sintering of Ti/C powder mixtures forming TiC at the border of the Ti particles. The results are compared with conventional processing. Optical images and XRD patterns confirmed the formation of TiC for both techniques.