Synthesis of composite materials with improved mechanical properties is considered. Pulse discharge sintering (PDS) technique was utilized for consolidation and synthesis of double phase Ti3SiC2/TiC composites from the initial powders TiH2/SiC/TiC. Scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectrometry (SEM with EDS) and X-ray diffractometry (XRD) were exploited for the analysis of the microstructure and composition of the sintered specimens. Mechanical tests showed high bending and compression strength and low Vickers hardness of Ti3SiC2-rich specimens. The reasons of this behaviour are in the features of the textured microstructure of Ti3SiC2 phase. (c) 2005 Springer Science + Business Media, Inc.