Abstract: Aluminothermic reactive synthesis of Al₂O₃-TiC nanocomposite powders from a mixture of TiO₂, Al, and C powders induced by high-energy ball milling and its consolidation through spark plasma sintering (SPS) were investigated. After being milled for 3h at ambient temperature, the powder mixtures reacted and homogeneous nanosized TiC and Al₂O₃ particles formed. The as-milled powders were consolidated by SPS technique in vacuum at 1450℃ for 4min under 50MPa, and the density of the as-sintered samples reached 99.6% of theoretical density. The final products showed fine microstructure, and most of the grain sizes of both Al₂O₃ and TiC nwere less than 1μm, and exhibited excellent properties: a flexural strength of 650±21MPa, a hardness of 19.1±0.2GPa, a fracture toughness of 4.5±0.2MPa·m^1/2, and an electrical conductivity of 2.3828×10⁵Ω^-1·m^-1.

Key words: high energy ball milling, aluminothermic reaction, spark plasma sintering