Compressive Behavior of Ti3AlC2 and Ti3Al0.8Sn0.2C2MAX Phases at Room Temperature

In this study, we report on the compressive behavior of Ti 3 AlC 2 and Ti 3 Al 0.8 Sn 0.2 C 2 MAX phases at room temperature. We found that these two phases could be classified as Kinking Nonlinear Elastic (KNE) solids. The cyclic compressive stress–strain loops for Ti 3 AlC 2 and Ti 3 Al 0.8 Sn 0.2 C 2 are typical hysteretic and fully reversible. At failure, both compositions fracture in shear with maximum stresses of 545 MPa for Ti 3 AlC 2 and 839 MPa for Ti 3 Al 0.8 Sn 0.2 C 2 . Consequently, the macroshear stresses for failure, τ c , are 185 MPa and 242 MPa for Ti 3 AlC 2 and Ti 3 Al 0.8 Sn 0.2 C 2 , respectively. In addition to the grain size effects, the presence of a ductile Ti x Al y intermetallic distributed in the grain boundaries plays an important role in the enhancement of the ultimate compressive and macroshear stresses for Ti 3 Al 0.8 Sn 0.2 C 2 . SEM observations reveal that these two MAX phases exhibit crack deflections, intragranular fractures, kink band formation and delaminations, grain push‐in and pull‐out.