An overview of powder processing of silicides and their composites

The use of powders to prepare fully dense silicides and their composites is reviewed. Since most of the techniques are well known, we concentrate on recent developments in this field, including the effects of processing techniques on composition, microstructure and mechanical properties. The use of hybrid processes to produce silicides is described, as are hybrid materials resulting from these processes. Included in the latter are functionally graded materials (FGM). The paper concludes with a brief discussion of in-situ melt processing as a competitive means to produce aligned composite structures