Effect of excess silicon content on the formation of nano-layered Ti3SiC2 ceramic via infiltration of TiC preforms

The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of silicon content on the formation and morphology of Ti₃SiC₂ based composite via infiltration of porous TiC preforms. The gelcasting process was used for fabrication of preforms. It was found that the infiltrated sample at 1500 °C for 90 min from a mixture of 3TiC/1.5Si containing 92 wt.% Ti₃SiC₂. With the increasing of TiC and SiC impurity phases, Vickers hardness was increased to the maximum value of 12.9 GPa in Ti₃SiC₂–39 wt.%TiC composite. Microscopic observations showed that the Ti₃SiC₂ matrix was composed of columnar, platelike and equiaxial grains with respect to silicon content.