Premium
Microstructural Development During Gas‐Pressure Sintering of α‐Silicon Nitride
Author(s) -
Mitomo Mamoru,
Uenosono Satoshi
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
journal of the american ceramic society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 196
eISSN - 1551-2916
pISSN - 0002-7820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1151-2916.1992.tb05449.x
Subject(s) - materials science , sintering , silicon nitride , fracture toughness , ceramic , composite material , gas pressure , microstructure , grain size , silicon , metallurgy , petroleum engineering , engineering
Gas‐pressure sintering of α‐Si 3 N 4 was carried out at 1850 ° to 2000°C in 980‐kPa N 2 . The diameters and aspect ratios of hexagonal grains in the sintered materials were measured on polished and etched surfaces. The materials have a bimodal distribution of grain diameters. The average aspect ratio in the materials from α‐Si 3 N 4 powder was similar to that in the materials from β‐Si 3 N 4 powder. The aspect ratio of large and elongated grains was larger than that of the average for all grains. The development of elongated grains was related to the formation of large nuclei during the α‐to‐β phase transformation. The fracture toughness of gaspressure‐sintered materials was not related to the α content in the starting powder or the aspect ratio of the grains, but to the diameter of the large grains. Crack bridging was the main toughening mechanism in gas‐pressure‐sintered Si 3 N 4 ceramics.