Papers by Keyword: Gas Pressure Sintering

Abstract: Hexagonal Boron Nitride (h-BN) shows remarkable physical properties, including high thermal stability, low density, low metals wettability, high corrosion resistance and microwave transparency. These features make it extremely interesting for several industrial applications such as furnaces manufacturing and metallurgy industry. Usually, h-BN parts are sintered by expensive high-temperature/high-pressure processes, strongly limiting their size. Here we present a new, cost-effective technique to obtain materials with high h-BN content and large dimensions, suitable for wide-scale industrial applications. Using h-BN and silicon powders as raw materials, reaction-bonded Si₃N₄/BN composites were obtained by complete nitriding of silicon. Two shaping techniques were exploited: slip casting and uniaxial compression molding using a thermosetting resin (in this case also Silicon Carbide was obtained), leading to materials with different properties. Both large (plates with diameter up to 400mm) and/or complexly-shaped objects (i.e. crucibles) were produced. Such materials were prepared using a Gas Pressure Sintering oven with different process parameters. The as-prepared samples were characterized and tested in a real application, as parts of liquid-silicon infiltration crucibles.

Abstract: Silicon nitride ceramics were prepared by gas pressure sintering (GPS) with different sintering additives, including La2O3, Sm2O3 and Al2O3. Effect of sintering additives on the phase-transformation, microstructure and mechanical properties of porous silicon nitride ceramics was investigated. The results show that the reaction of sintering additives each other and with SiO2 had key effects on the phase-transformation, grain growing and grain boundaries. With 9MPa N2 atmosphere pressure, holding 1h at 1850°C, adding 10wt% one of the La2O3, Sm2O3, Al2O3, porous silicon nitride was prepared and the relative density was 78%, 72%, 85% respectively. The flexural strength was less than 500MPa, and the fracture toughness was less than 4.8MPam1/2. Dropping compounds sintering additives, such as La2O3+Al2O3, Sm2O3+Al2O3 effectively improves the sintering and mechanical properties. The relative density was 99.2% and 98.7% with 10wt% compounds sintering additives. The grain ratio of length to diameter was up to 1:8. The flexural strength was more than 900MPa, and the fracture toughness was more than 8.9MPam1/2.

Abstract: The sections of Φ55mm silicon nitride balls, sintered by gas pressure sintering were analyzed. The results show that temperature gradient during of the sintering process from the surface to the core of large size silicon nitride balls occurred because of the lower thermal conductivity of Si3N4. With the diameter increasing, the temperature gradient was more visible. The impurity of raw materials, such as free Si, free C and other metal oxides, like the SiO2 could produce gas, such as SiO, CO and so on, during the sintering process through the thermodynamic analysis. The producing gas exhausted more difficultly with the diameter of silicon nitride balls increasing. These factors were the most important to the defects of large size silicon nitride balls during the sintering process and made cracks and crescent on the surface of balls.

Abstract: At temperature above 1200°C, the thermal stability of α-SiAlON phases has been debated since 1992; however, it has been discussed if any α-SiAlON phase can be formed in Ce, La, Eu and Sr-doped SiAlON systems. In our previous studies it was shown that the use of Mg-Ce and Mg-Sr elements as dopants SiAlON compositions, in which all elements just have very low or no stability in the α-SiAlON structure, would promote the stability of Mg-Ce elements in the α- SiAlON phase [1, 2]. However, in Mg-Sr systems, it was obtained that Mg2+ is predominantly incorporated in α-SiAlON structure whereas Sr2+ mainly remains in the grain boundaries [2]. In this study, by applying spark plasma sintering (SPS) (at 1400-1700°C) and post-sintering thermal heat treatment (at 1500°C for 5 hrs and 1700°C for 2hrs) Mg or Mg-Sr doped SiAlON (50:50 mole ratios) ceramics were prepared. The results were compared with GPS sintered samples data. The effect of sintering temperature on densification process, phase transformation, microstructure and mechanical properties of samples were investigated. The results showed that by using SPS, Sr-Mg doped samples can be sintered at lower temperature (at 1600°C) than at GPS (at 1800°C) and it has no Sr-doped grain boundary phases.