Characteristic Studies on Electro-Discharge-Sintering of Ti5Si3 Powder Synthesized by Mechanical Alloying

The consolidation of mechanical alloyed Ti5Si3 powder by electro-discharge-sintering has been investigated. A single pulse of 2.5 to 8.0 kJ/0.34 g was applied to each powder mixture using 300 and 450 mu F capacitors. A bulk-like solid with Ti5Si3 phase has been successfully fabricated by the discharge with an input energy of more than 2.5 kJ in less than 160 mu sec. Micro-Vickers hardness was found to be higher than 1350, which is significantly higher than that of a conventional high temperature sintered sample. The formation of Ti5Si3 and consolidation occurred through a fast solid state diffusion reaction.