Study on the Reaction Mechanism of (α-Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>+TiB<sub>2</sub>+TiC)/Al Composites Fabricated by Al-TiO<sub>2</sub>-B<sub>4</sub>C System

The composites (-Al2O3+TiB2+TiC)/Al has been fabricated by using exothermic dispersion synthesis. Thermodynamic analysis indicated that the reaction between the Al and TiO2 can spontaneously occur due to the negative Gibbs free energy of the Al-TiO2 reaction system. With the increase of B4C/TiO2 mole ratios, the exothermic peaks increase move to the higher temperature and the corresponding ignite temperatures also increase. The reaction results indicate that when the B4C/TiO2＝0, the reinforcements are composed of -Al2O3, Al3Ti, with the increase of B4C/TiO2, the amount of Al3Ti decreases and the TiC and TiB2 form simultaneously. When the B4C/TiO2 increases to 1/3, the Al3Ti almost disappear and the reinforcements of the composites are consisted of -Al2O3, TiC and TiB2.