Premium
Microhardness Load Size Effect in Individual Grains of a Gas Pressure Sintered Silicon Nitride
Author(s) -
Dusza Jan,
Steen Marc
Publication year - 1998
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.1151-2916.1998.tb02732.x
Subject(s) - indentation , indentation hardness , materials science , silicon nitride , nitride , composite material , grain size , silicon , vickers hardness test , knoop hardness test , metallurgy , microstructure , layer (electronics)
Vickers microhardness as a function of the indentation load and of grain orientation was studied in individual grains of a gas pressure sintered (GPS) polycrystalline silicon nitride using indentation loads in the range from 1 to 50 g. The microhardness values are lower than the microhardness of ß‐Si 3 N 4 single crystals, which is probably caused by the softening of the silicon nitride lattice by the presence of oxygen and aluminum atoms. The indentation load size effect (ISE) was more evident in the prismatic planes of the grains. The threshold load for indent formation is below 1 g for both basal and prismatic planes of Si 3 N 4 grains in the studied GPS silicon nitride.