Thermal Conductivity of Si₃N₄ Ceramics Fabricated From Carbothermal-reduction-derived Powder

Si3N4-based ceramic (Si3N4-5wt%Y2O3-3wt%MgO) was obtained from carbothermal-reduction-derived powder combined with gas pressure sintering. The phase, microstructure, thermal conductivity and mechanical properties of Si3N4 ceramics were comprehensively analyzed. Dense Si3N4 ceramic with uniform grain size was obtained after sintering at 1900°C for 7 h under a N2 pressure of 1.2 MPa. The secondary phase consisted of Y4Si2O7N2 and Y2Si3O3N4 was found to gather around triangular grain boundaries. The thermal conductivity, flexural strength, hardness and fracture toughness of the Si3N4 ceramics were 95.7 W·m-1·k-1, 715 MPa, 17.2 GPa and 7.2 MPa·m1/2, respectively. The results were compared with product derived from commercial powder, the improvement of thermal conductivity (~8.3%) and fracture toughness (~4.3%) demonstrating the superiority of Si3N4 ceramics prepared from carbothermal-reduction-derived powder.

Preparation of high-entropy carbides by different sintering techniques

Dense (Hf, Ta, Nb, Ti, V)C- and (Ta, Nb, Ti, V, W)C-based high-entropy carbides (HEC) were produced by three different sintering techniques: gas pressure sintering/sinter–HIP at 1900 °C and 100 bar Ar, vacuum sintering at 2250 °C and 0.001 bar as well as SPS/FAST at 2000 °C and 60 MPa pressure. The relative density varied from 97.9 to 100%, with SPS producing 100% dense samples with both compositions. Grain size measurements showed that the substitution of Hf with W leads to an increase in the mean grain size of 5–10 times the size of the (Hf, Ta, Nb, Ti, V,)C samples. Vacuum-sintered samples showed uniform grain size distribution regardless of composition. EDS mapping revealed the formation of a solid solution with no intermetallic phases or element clustering. X-ray diffraction analysis showed the structure of mostly single-phase cubic high-entropy carbides. Hardness measurements revealed that (Hf, Ta, Nb, Ti, V)C samples possess higher hardness values than (Ta, Nb, Ti, V, W)C samples.

Production and Properties of High Entropy Carbide Based Hardmetals

Dense, high-entropy carbide cobalt-bonded hardmetals with two different compositions, namely (Hf-Ta-Ti-Nb-V)C-19.2 vol% Co and (Ta-Ti-Nb-V-W)C-19.2 vol% Co, were successfully manufactured by gas pressure sintering (SinterHIP) at 1400 °C and 100 bar Ar pressure. The microstructure of these hardmetals consists of a rigid skeletal carbide phase embedded in a tough Co binder phase. EDS mappings showed that the high-entropy carbide phase did not decompose and that a typical hardmetal microstructure was realized. Only in the case of the (Hf-Ta-Ti-Nb-V)C-Co hardmetal was some undissolved TaC and HfO2, as well as some clustered vanadium titanium carbide phase, found, resulting in a split-up of the HEC phase into two very similar HEC phases. This resulted in a reduced hardness to fracture toughness ratio for this composition. Measurements of magnetic saturation polarization showed values between 57.5% and 70% of theoretical magnetic saturation polarization, indicating marginal dissolution of the carbide-forming metal elements in the binder phase. The hardness value HV10 for (Hf-Ta-Ti-Nb-V)C-19.2 vol% Co was 1203 HV10 and 1432 HV10 for (Ta-Ti-Nb-V-W)C-19.2 vol% Co.

Microstructure and Fracture Mechanism Investigation of Porous Silicon Nitride–Zirconia–Graphene Composite Using Multi-Scale and In-Situ Microscopy

Silicon nitride–zirconia–graphene composites with high graphene content (5 wt.% and 30 wt.%) were sintered by gas pressure sintering (GPS). The effect of the multilayer graphene (MLG) content on microstructure and fracture mechanism is investigated by multi-scale and in-situ microscopy. Multi-scale microscopy confirms that the phases disperse evenly in the microstructure without obvious agglomeration. The MLG flakes well dispersed between ceramic matrix grains slow down the phase transformation from α to β-Si3N4, subsequent needle-like growth of β-Si3N4 rods and the densification due to the reduction in sintering additives particularly in the case with 30 wt.% MLG. The size distribution of Si3N4 phase shifts towards a larger size range with the increase in graphene content from 5 to 30 wt.%, while a higher graphene content (30 wt.%) hinders the growth of the ZrO2 phase. The composite with 30 wt.% MLG has a porosity of 47%, the one with 5 wt.% exhibits a porosity of approximately 30%. Both Si3N4/MLG composites show potential resistance to contact or indentation damage. Crack initiation and propagation, densification of the porous microstructure, and shift of ceramic phases are observed using in-situ transmission electron microscopy. The crack propagates through the ceramic/MLG interface and through both the ceramic and the non-ceramic components in the composite with low graphene content. However, the crack prefers to bypass ceramic phases in the composite with 30 wt.% MLG.

Effect of particle size of Y2O3-Al2O3 additives on microstructure and mechanical properties of Si3N4 ceramic balls for bearing applications

Si3N4 ceramic balls were prepared by gas pressure sintering with Y2O3 and Al2O3 as sintering additives. The effects of particle size of Y2O3-Al2O3 additives on densification, microstructure and mechanical properties of Si3N4 ceramic balls were investigated. The reliability of Si3N4 ceramic balls was evaluated through the Weibull modulus. The results showed that Si3N4 ceramic balls containing nanosized Y2O3-Al2O3 additives have a higher relative density and better comprehensivemechanical properties compared with the samples containing microsized additives, with relative density of 98.9 ? 0.2%TD, Vickers hardness of 14.7 ? 0.1GPa, indentation fracture toughness of 6.5 ? 0.1MPa?m1/2 and crushing strength of 254 ? 8.5MPa. The more homogeneous and extensive dispersion of the nanosized sintering additives in the Si3N4 matrix is the main reason for the enhancement in density and mechanical properties of the Si3N4 ceramic balls.

A novel method to fabricate porous single phase O’-sialon ceramic and improve its mechanical property

Nowadays, the O?-sialon ceramics are synthesized by the reaction of Si3N4, SiO2 and Al2O3. However, it is difficult to achieve the single phase materials. Here, we have successfully developed porous single phase O?-sialon ceramics by pre-oxidation combined with gas-pressure sintering method. The effects of ?-Si3N4 powder on the microstructure, phase evolution, mechanical property were investigated. The result illustrated that the main crystal phase of the porous ceramics was composed of the single O?-sialon phase. The pores were well distributed and generated from the decomposition of Si2N2O. The elongated O?-sialon grains were found and formed around pore walls. Additionally, the addition of ?-Si3N4 powder was beneficial for improving the bending strength because of the reduction of porosity and pore size. The porous O?-sialon ceramics with uniform pores obtained the excellent bending strength when the ?-Si3N4 powder was 6 wt%.

Effect of TiN particle size on wear behavior of SiAlON-TiN composites

SiAlON ceramics and their derivatives are potential materials for tribological applications where wear and friction are very crucial. TiN is a reinforcement phase and solid lubricant for SiAlON used to improve mechanical and tribological properties. In this study, αı:βı-SiAlON composites incorporating nano- and micron-size TiN particles were produced by a gas pressure sintering method. Tribological behavior of the composites was investigated based on reinforcement particle size and physico-mechanical properties. Tribology tests were performed with a computer-controlled tribometer under dry unlubricated conditions with ball-on-disk configuration. It was found that the TiN particle size has an effect on surface roughness and hence the coefficient of friction. When the TiN particle size decreased to nano size, the wear mechanism was tribochemical, whereas, when the particle size increased to micron size, severe mechanical wear was observed besides tribochemical wear.

Phase assemblage and properties of a nonoxide composite fabricated by a two-step gas-pressure sintering

In this work, a composite composed of [Formula: see text]-Sialon (Z[Formula: see text]=[Formula: see text]4) and ZrN has been fabricated by a two-step gas-pressure sintering method, and the effects of ZrN content and applied pressure on the phase behavior, densification and mechanical properties have been investigated. The phase behaviors were mainly dependent on the ZrN content and the applied pressure. The composites composed of [Formula: see text]-Sialon (Z[Formula: see text]=[Formula: see text]4), ZrN, 15R-Sialon (0.4 MPa) and 12H-Sialon (0.7 MPa) as major phases, with different intermediate phases depending on the ZrN content. It is revealed that with the two-step sintering technique, a higher applied gas pressure has a positive effect on mass loss, and significantly improved the mechanical properties. The addition of ZrN particles greatly helped the densification behavior, reduced the mass loss, and increased fracture toughness of the composites, but decreased hardness due to formation of intermediate phases and grain coarsening. The addition of ZrN increased the fracture toughness due to the toughening mechanisms of crack branching, crack deflection and crack bridging.