Pressureless sintering kinetics analysis of Ti3SiC2 and Ti2AlC powdered MAX phases

Abstract This paper reports the pressureless sintering behavior and the activation energy of the powdered MAX phases Ti3SiC2and Ti2AlC. A non-isothermal technique was used to determine the sintering kinetic parameter. The Ti3SiC2and Ti2AlC MAX phases showed the maximum sintering rate at 1723 K, 0.14 and 0.10 µm/s, respectively. The sintering rate of the sample at different temperatures followed a cubic equation which was determined. The sintering activation energy (Ea) for the Ti3SiC2and Ti2AlC samples was 362.1 kJ/mol and 640.3 kJ/mol, respectively.