Fabrication of Porous β-SiAlON Preforms from Kaolin for Liquid Metal Infiltration

In this study, the production of β-Si6-zAlzOzN8-z (z =3) powders by the carbothermal reduction and nitridation of kaolin (Al2O3.2SiO2.2H2O) of Turkish origin (Can-Canakkale) was carried out with different processing parameters. It was found that the morphology of the produced SiAlON powder was mixture of irregular and whisker like grains. Therefore this morphology is suitable for liquid metal infiltration since the powders are already high porous. The kaolin powder containing stoichiometric rate carbon black and 30 % charcoal were pressed and reacted under nitrogen flow (2 lt/min) between 1400-1475°C for 4 h. After a carbothermal reduction and nitridation (CRN) process, porous β- SiAlON ceramic was produced from natural kaolin. Residual carbon and charcoal in the produced ß-SiAlON ceramic were fired at 1000°C giving extra porosity. The porous ß-SiAlON ceramics were sintered under N2 atmosphere at 1550°C for 2 h to make preform for infiltration process. SEM image analyses were carried out to determine preform and pore morphology and XRD analysis were performed for phase transformation.