Vanadium carbide is important for industrial applications because of its high hardness, high temperature resistance, high chemical, and thermal stability. It is generally obtained from the reaction between V and C powders at a high temperature ranging from 1100 to 1500°C. Investigations on these high strength, high abrasion resistant, hard materials have been intensified in recent years and consequently, significant improvements have been achieved. In this study, VC alloys are produced with low cost processes, by reducing the oxides of their components by SHS methods and ball mill-assisted carbothermal reduction. In the experimental stage, V₂O₅ was used as oxidized Vanadium source, C_black as carbon source, magnesium and C_black as reductant. In the study, VC powders were synthesized by two different methods and optimum production conditions were determined. Furthermore, the effect of different stoichiometric charge components and the effect of experiment durations were realized by X-ray diffraction, HSC Chemistry, and SEM analyses for different reductants.

A eutectic reaction is a basic liquid-solid transformation, which can be used in the fabrication of high-strength in situ composites.

In this study an attempt was made to ensure directional solidification of Fe-C-V alloy with hypereutectic microstructure. In this alloy, the

crystallisation of regular fibrous eutectic and primary carbides with the shape of non-faceted dendrites takes place. According to the data

given in technical literature, this type of eutectic is suitable for the fabrication of in-situ composites, owing to the fact that a flat

solidification front is formed accompanied by the presence of two phases, where one of the phases can crystallise in the form of elongated

fibres.

In the present study an attempt was also made to produce directionally solidifying vanadium eutectic using an apparatus with a very high

temperature gradient amounting to 380 W/cm at a rate of 3 mm/h. Alloy microstructure was examined in both the initial state and after

directional solidification. It was demonstrated that the resulting microstructure is of a non-homogeneous character, and the process of

directional solidification leads to an oriented arrangement of both the eutectic fibres and primary carbides.

Cast Hadfield steel is characterised by high abrasion resistance, provided, however, that it is exposed to the effect of dynamic loads.

During abrasion without loading, e.g. under the impact of loose sand jet, its wear resistance drops very drastically. To increase the abrasion

resistance of this alloy under the conditions where no pressure is acting, primary vanadium carbides are formed in the metallurgical

process, to obtain a composite structure after the melt solidification. The primary, very hard, carbides uniformly distributed in the

austenitic matrix are reported to double the wear resistance of samples subjected to the effect of a silicon carbide-water mixture.