SHS of cast materials in the Mo-Al-C system

Materials based on molybdenum-aluminium-carbon compounds have a considerable potential for use under intense wear conditions at elevated temperatures. This paper presents the experimental results of self-propagating high-temperature synthesis of compounds within the Mo-Al-C system. By combining two processes: SHS of the elements and SHS-metallurgy, cast materials containing the Mo3Al2C, Mo2C, Mo3Al, and Mo3Al8 phases were obtained. The experiments used mixtures with compositions calculated according to the ratio (1 - α)(3MoO3-8Al-C)/α(3Mo-2Al-C), where a varied in the range from 0 to 1. The synthesis was carried out in a laboratory reactor of 3 L volume at an initial argon pressure of 5 MPa. The mass of the initial mixtures in all experiments was 20 g. The process of combustion was initiated by a 0.5 mm diameter molybdenum wire spiral by applying 28 V voltage to it. The resulting end products were studied by X-ray diffraction and local microstructural analysis. A significant influence of the ratio of the initial reagents on the synthesis parameters, phase composition, and microstructure of the target products was established. Introduction into the high-exothermic mixture 3MoO3-8Al-C inert “cold” mixture 3Mo-2Al-C leads to an increase in the content of carbide phases in the ingots. The possibility of obtaining cast materials based on the triple phase Mo3Al2C, the maximum content of which is 87 wt. % at the content of the “cold” mixture in the charge α = 0.4 is shown. The presence of secondary phases of molybdenum carbide (Mo2C) and molybdenum aluminides (Mo3Al8 , Mo3Al) in the final products is due to a change in the composition of the initial mixture caused by the ejection of components during combustion and insufficient existence time of the melt formed in the combustion wave.