SYNTHESIS AND SPARK PLASMA SINTERING OF TI_1-XAL_XN SUPERSATURATED SOLID SOLUTION

Titanium aluminum nitride displays high hardness and oxidation resistance at elevated temperatures and successfully use for coating of various tools for mechanical treatments. The information about TiAlN bulk materials is limited. In this study we focused on the fabrication dense bodies of . For this purpose, firstly, super-saturated solid solution nano powders were synthesized by high energy ball milling of AlN and TiN powders with various fractions of AlN. The powders were sintered by high pressure spark plasma sintering (HPSPS) at the temperature of 1300°C and at a heating rate of 50°C·min^-1 under uniaxial pressure of 400 MPa. Fully dense nano-structured HPSPS-processed specimens displayed a hardness of about 2000 HV, Young modulus of 410 GPa, bending strength of 600 MPa and fracture toughness of 6.9 MPa·m^0.5.