Thermal properties and laser processing of hot-pressed materials from Ti–Al–C system

The work concerns the characterization of polycrystalline materials composed in Ti–Al–C system such as Ti2AlC and Ti3AlC2. The starting powders were synthesized from metal powder in nitrogen overpressure with the use of SHS method. Such obtained powders were chemically described and hot-pressed at temperatures 1100 °C and 1300 °C. The densification measurements were taken on obtained sintered bodies. The chemical composition analysis and microstructural observation of hot-pressed materials were made. The obtained MAX phase Young’s modulus was examined in the temperature range 25–600 °C by resonance method. The thermal properties of the thermogravimetric analysis were made in air flow to determine the oxygen resistance. The MAX phase polycrystals were taken under laser flash analysis, which allowed to measure directly thermal diffusivity and specific heat and to calculate indirectly thermal conductivity up to the temperature of 700 °C. Additionally, the polycrystalline material was laser treated in continuous work mode. The hot-pressed MAX nanolaminates were laser ablation and laser welding processed, which is new in the literature. The laser beam-treated material places were microstructurally investigated by scanning electron microscopy and chemically by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The result of laser processing was discussed regarding material preparation route and its thermal properties.