Titanium carbide/alumina composite material

Claim 1

A process for preparing a composite material comprised of about 44 to 54 weight percent of titanium carbide and about 45 to 53 weight percent of alumina, said process comprising the steps of; (a) providing an aluminum material selected from the group consisting of aluminum, aluminum alloys, and mixtures thereof, said aluminum material having a specific surface area of about 0.2 to 1.1 m 2 /g and ranging in size from about 4 to 28 microns, titania which is at least 98% pure with particle sizes smaller than about 53 microns, and amorphous carbon having a surface area of at least about 4 m 2 /g; (b) comminuting a mixture of about 19 to 35 weight percent of said aluminum material, about 50 to 85 weight percent of said titania, and about 9 to 15 weight percent of said amorphous carbon under protective environment selected from the group consisting of inert gas and a vacuum of about 10 -2 to 10 -3 Torr until the mixture consists essentially of a single phase; (c) pelletizing the comminuted, single-phase mixture, thereby forming a multiplicity of pellets; and (d) subjecting the pellets to a temperature in excess of 600° C., under protective environment until ignition to produce said composite.