2.1. Mechanical Alloying

The Ni-TiC composite powder was prepared from an elemental mixture of Ni metal powder (particle size~ 3–7 µm, purity > 99.9%, Alfa Aeser, Haverhill, MA, USA) and TiC metal powder (particle size~ 7–10 µm, purity > 99%, Alfa Aeser) powders alloyed via high energy ball mill (Pulverisette 7 Premium, Fritsch, Germany). The mechanical alloying has been carried out for 24 h in a tungsten carbide 80 mL grinding bowl and 3 mm size balls with a ball to powder weight ratio (BPR) of 10:1 and 300 rpm. The milling operation carried in two steps involves 20 min of milling and 10mins of the cooling interval to avoid overheating the sample. Steric acid (2 wt.%) was used as a process control agent (PCA) during mechanical alloying to prevent excessive cold welding due to high energy generated during the alloying process. The TiC content inside composites has been systematically increased from 5 to 50 wt.% to investigate its effect on these composites’ microstructure and mechanical properties.