STUDIES ON ABRASIVE WEAR OF MONOLITHIC SILICON-NITRIDE AND A SILICON-CARBIDE WHISKER-REINFORCED SILICON-NITRIDE COMPOSITE

Results presented in this paper demonstrate the roles of the most impo rtant parameters that govern abrasive wear of experimental ceramics. S EM studies of the abraded surfaces evidenced two main kinds of failure s: microdropping of grain(s) and powder-type wear track(s) resulting f rom the brittle microfracturing of parts of grain(s). There were whisk ers in the surface, and whisker pullouts occurring during wear process es are believed to be the reasons for the lower wear rates of SiCw/Si3 N4 composite ceramics under experimental conditions.