Pulse electric current sintering (PECS) is applied to synthesis M5Si3 type Si-Ti-Zr system intermetallic compounds, Si3TixZr(5-x) x=0-5, directly from raw powders of silicon, titanium and zirconium. Almost full conversion to Si3TixZr(5-x) are achieved by PECS method with self-propagating high temperature synthesis (SHS) reaction. The adiabatic temperatures are susceptible to sintering behaviors such as vacuum pressure in chamber and displacement of pressure axis on the PECS process. The large quantities of gases are released in Zr-rich samples. The bulk shapes with almost dense samples are obtained at Ti-rich samples.
The zirconium silicide intermetallic compounds with the 16H crystal structure are good materials for high temperature structural applications, because of their high melting point and low density. Their shortcoming is low ductility. To increase ductility, the coordination numbers are increased to increase isotropy of bondings, and to have more metallic nature of bonds.Combination of elements, silicon, zirconium and other atoms for ternary silicides are selected by theoretical consideration of the coordination numbers. As the coordination numbers increase, the atomic bonds increase metallic properties, and their ductility increases. Higher coordination numbers are obtained by substituting yttrium atoms onto zirconium 6g point set sites.
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