Combustion Synthesis experiments have been performed on the ISS (International Space Station) during the Belgian taxi-flight
mission ODISSEA in November 2002, in the framework of the ESA-coordinated project COSMIC (Combustion Synthesis under Microgravity
Conditions). The main objective of the experiments was to investigate the general physico-chemical mechanisms of combustion
synthesis processes and the formation of products microstructure. Within the combustion zone, a number of gravity-dependent
phenomena occur, while other phenomena are masked by gravity. Under certain conditions, gravity-dependent secondary processes
may also occur in the heat-affected zone after combustion. To study the influence of gravity, a specially dedicated reactor
ensemble was designed and used in the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) onboard the ISS. In this work, the experiment design
is first discussed in terms of the experimental functionality and reactor ensemble integration in the MSG. To investigate
microstructure formation, a sample constituted by a cylindrical portion followed by a conical one, the latter being inserted
inside a massive copper block, is used. The experiment focused on the synthesis of intermetallic matrix composites (IMCs)
based on the Al-Ti-B system. Depending on the composition, different intermetallic compounds (TiAl and TiAl
3) can be formed as matrix phase while TiB2 represents the reinforcing particulate phase. During the ISS mission, six samples
with a relatively high green density of 65%TD have successfully been processed. The influence of the composition on the combustion
process will be examined.