Vanadium/MgAl₂O₄ composites for hostile environment applications - Part I: Processing

Metal-ceramic composites of vanadium and magnesio-aluminate (spinel) were developed for applications in high radiation environments. A number of powder processing routes were used to obtain composites with different properties. These are (1) ball milling mixtures of commercial powders; (2) in situ displacement reactions during ball milling; and (3) same as (2) with the addition of a small amount of reducing metallic elements. The ball milled powders were consolidated by hot isostatic pressing. This talk discusses the processing routes and the microstructures obtained. The following talk (Part II) in this conference presents the properties of the composites.