Synthesis of V-Ti-Cr alloys by aluminothermy co-reduction of its oxides

Synthesis of V-Ti-Cr solid solution alloy by co-reduction of V 2 O 5 , Cr 2 O 3 and TiO 2 with aluminium in an open bomb reactor was investigated. The reduction of V 2 O 5 and Cr 2 O 3 was highly exothermic while reduction of TiO 2 was not sufficiently exothermic for self-sustaining reaction. A range of composition of V 2 O 5 , Cr 2 O 3 and TiO 2 mixture was chosen to make overall process sufficiently exothermic to sustain the reaction in a controlled manner. After the co-reduction, V-Ti-Cr-Al solid solution was obtained. As-obtained solid solution was refined by electron beam melting (EB) to remove the aluminium and residual oxygen. EB melted V-Ti-Cr thus obtained contains substantially less amount of aluminium (~0.081%.) Throughout the synthesis process the prepared products were analyzed using scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDAX), chemical analysis, gravimetric analysis and X-ray diffraction.