Dm. Liu et al., POROSITY DEPENDENCE OF MECHANICAL STRENGTH AND FRACTURE-TOUGHNESS IN SIC-AL2O3-Y2O3 CERAMICS, Nippon Seramikkusu Kyokai gakujutsu ronbunshi, 103(9), 1995, pp. 878-881
Influence of residual porosity on the flexural strength and fracture t
oughness of pressureless-sintered alpha-SiC ceramic with controlled mi
crostructure, characterized by equiaxed-grain and a mixture of equiaxe
d/plate grains were investigated together with the trend of sigma-K-IC
behavior. Both the flexural strength and the fracture toughness of th
e SiC ceramics showed an exponential decrease with porosity, but the e
xtent of the porosity dependence was dependent on the microstructure;
a higher porosity-dependent strength was seen for the equiaxed-grain m
icrostructure, while the dependence became weak for the mixed one. The
trend of flexural strength-toughness dependence appeared to be positi
ve and became more pronounced for the SiC ceramics with mixed-grain mo
rphology, suggesting a strengthening effect due to the presence of rei
nforced platelike phase. Crack deflection appeared to be the principal
mechanism for toughness improvement in the SiC-Al2O3-Y2O3 ceramics.