M. Nader et al., Influence of the alpha/beta-SiC phase transformation on microstructural development and mechanical properties of liquid phase sintered silicon carbide, J MATER SCI, 34(6), 1999, pp. 1197-1204
The transformation kinetics and microstructural development of liquid phase
sintered silicon carbide ceramics (LPS-SiC) are investigated. Complete den
sification is achieved by pressureless and gas pressure sintering in argon
and nitrogen atmospheres with Y2O3 and AIN as sintering additives. Studies
of the phase transformation from beta to alpha-SiC reveals a dependency on
the initial beta-content and the sintering atmosphere. The transformation r
ate decreases with an increasing beta-content in the starting powder and in
presence of nitrogen. The transformation is completely supressed for pure
beta-SiC starting powders when the additive system consists of 10.34 wt% Y2
O3 and 2.95 wt% AIN. Materials without phase transformation showed a homoge
neous microstructure with equiaxed grains, whereas microstructures with elo
ngated grains were developed from SIC powders with a high initial alpha/bet
a-ratio (>1:9) when phase transformation occurs. Since liquid phase sintere
d silicon carbide reveals predominantly an intergranular fracture mode, the
grain size and shape has a significant influence on the mechanical propert
ies. The toughness of materials with platelet-like grains is about twice as
high as for materials with equiaxed grains. Materials exhibiting elongated
microstructures show also a higher bending strength after post-HIPing. (C)
1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers.