Abstract

Sintering kinetics of ball-milled MoSi_2 was studied with the addition of Ni. MoSi_2 powder with the average particle size of 1 mutextrmm was obtained from ball-milling of 10 mutextrmm powder. Small amount of Ni was added to the ball-milled MoSi_2 powder by salt solution and reduction method. The powder was compacted into cylindrical shape at 200 MPa and isothermally sintered in a H_2 atmosphere at the temperature range of 1100~1400°C for 3~600 minutes. The changes of linear shrinkage and sintered density were monitored as a function of sintering time. The microstructure was observed by using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Phases were identified by X-ray diffratometer and electro-probe micro analysis. Sintering kinetics of Ni-added powder was compared to as-milled powder and the apparent activation energy was calculated from Arrhenius plot.