Characterization of two-phase nickel aluminides produced by pressure-assisted combustion synthesis

Two-phase (B2+L1₂) nickel aluminide intermetallic compounds were synthesized by the pressure-assisted volume combustion synthesis (CS). The production and characterization of the samples containing NiAl+Ni₃Al were investigated. Aluminum (99% pure, 15 μm) and carbonyl nickel (99.8 pure, 4-7 μm) powders were used. The production of intermetallic compound was carried out at 1050 °C under 150 MPa uniaxial pressure in open air atmosphere in an electrical resistance furnace for 60 min. The formation temperature of intermetallic compound was determined by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) analysis, and exothermic temperature of powder mixture was determined as 653 °C. The characterization of samples was confirmed by optical microscope, SEM and XRD analysis. It was observed that the structure of compound has very low porosity and the formation of NiAl was completed successfully. The relative density of test materials measured according to Archimedes’ principle was 98.04%. The microhardness of test materials was about 351 HVN₁.