A composite consisting of a light metal – titanium - and a metal with a shape memory, in this case an Co38Ni33Al29, alloy, demonstrates the possibilities of combining materials prepared by electric current assisted sintering (spark plasma, sintering)). The resulting product maintains the properties of both of its components, it is lighter but it is also ferromagnetic. The combination of unusual materials leads to a number of intermetallic phases encountered at the point of contact that have comprehensively been described by a wide range of methods.
A phase distribution map of a Ti:Co38Ni33Al29 sample with a component ratio of 1:2 sintered for 5 minutes. The phase map shows the description of the phases on the right side below, and the quality of the EBSD signal on the right above.