The grain size of TaC decreases with an increase in ball mliing time. Nanopowder of TaC was fabricated by high energy ball milling for 10 h. A densely pure TaC hard material with a relative density of up to 96% was produced with simultaneous application of 80 MPa pressure and pulsed current within 2 minutes. The density and hardness of TaC increased with a decrease in the initial TaC powder size. The fracture toughness and hardness values of TaC obtained from 10 h milled powder were 6.8 MPa.m(1/2) and 2076 kg/mm(2), respectively under 80 MPa pressure and with a pulsed current of 2800A.
Keywords: Sintering; Nanophase; Hardness; Toughness; TaC