In situ synthesis of TiC/Fe composites by reaction casting

A new technique for reaction casting is put forward in this paper. According to the results of the temperature field and X-ray diffraction patterns, and combined with the theoretical analysis, it is proven that iron matrix composites with low volume fractions of TiC reinforcement can be produced by this technique. The process includes four steps for the reactants: added to iron matrix, dissolve and diffuse in the melt, absorb the thermal energy from the melt for reaction, and synthesize TiC in situ. The first step is the key to this approach, which is unique, novel and significantly different from the previous techniques. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.