Properties and rapid consolidation of binderless nanostuctured tantalum carbide by pulsed current activated sintering

Abstract

The grain size of TaC decreases with an increase in ball mliing time. Nanopowder of TaC was fabricated by high energy ball milling for 10 h. A densely pure TaC hard material with a relative density of up to 96% was produced with simultaneous application of 80 MPa pressure and pulsed current within 2 minutes. The density and hardness of TaC increased with a decrease in the initial TaC powder size. The fracture toughness and hardness values of TaC obtained from 10 h milled powder were 6.8 MPa.m(1/2) and 2076 kg/mm(2), respectively under 80 MPa pressure and with a pulsed current of 2800A.