Wetting of silicon carbide by copper alloys

This work reports on a study of the wetting of SiC by some Copper alloys. The work is intended to gain a deeper understanding on the weeting behaviour of selected CuTi alloys in contact with a polycristalline silicon carbide substrate. Although the main body of this work deals with the CuTi/SiC system a few observations are also reported on the interaction between a CuZr alloy and a silicon infiltrated SiC grade. The contact angles established between the liquid alloys and silicon carbide at 1200degreesC were measured by the sessile drop method using a vacuum between 10(-4) and 10(-5) Pa. Since the interface generated between the metallic and ceramic phases in a composite material is a region that plays a critical role in determining its mechanical properties the obtained specimens were subsequently characterised using a SEM fitted with EDS facilities. X-ray diffraction was used to determine the phases formed while DSC analyses were employed to determine the temperatures for the formation of reaction products. (C) 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers.