Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Si_3N_4 Composites Containing SiC Platelet

Hoppressed Si3N4/SiC platelet composites had been investigated with respect to their microstructure and mechanical properties. The results indicate that Vickers hardness, elastic modulus and fracture toughness of the composites were increased by the addition of SiC platelet until the content up to 20 vol pct. A slight decrease in flexural Strength was measured at room temperature with increasing SiC platelet content. The high temperature flexural strength tests at 1150, 1250, and 1350℃ were conducted. It was found that the flexural strength at elevated temperature was degraded with the rising temperature, and the downward trend of flexural strength for the composite containing 10 vol. pct SiC platelet was less. The results indicate that SiC platelet had a positive influence on the high temperature strength. Effects of SiC platelet reinforcement were presented

Fabrication and characterization of SiO_(2(f))/Si)_3N_4 composites

A silicon dioxide fiber-reinforced silicon nitride matrix （SiOJSi3N4） composite used for radomes was prepared by chemical vapor infiltration （CVI） process using the SiCl4-NH3-H2 system. The effects of the process conditions, including infiltration temperature, infiltration time, and gas flux were investigated. The energy dispersion spectra （EDS） result showed that the main elements of this composite contained Si, N, and O. The X-ray diffraction （XRD） results indicated that phases of the composite before and after treatment at 1350℃ were all amorphous. A little fiber pull-out was observed on the cross section of the composite by scan electron microscope （SEM）. As a result, the composite exhibited good thermal stability, but an appropriate interface was necessary between the fiber and the matrix.

Fabrication of Fine-Grained Si_3N_4-Si_2N_2O Composites by Sintering Amorphous Nano-sized Silicon Nitride Powders

Si3N4-Si2N2O composites were fabricated with amorphous nano-sized silicon nitride powders by the liquid phase sintering （ LPS ）. The Si2 N2O phase was generated by an in-situ reaction 2 Si3 N4 （ s ） ＋ 1.5 02 （ g ） = 3 Si2 N2O （ s ） ＋ N2 （ g ） . The content of Si2 N2 O phase up to 60% in the volume was obtained at a sintering temperature of 1 650℃ and reduced when the sintering temperature increased or decreased, indicating the reaction is reversible. The mass loss, relative density and average grain size increased with increasing the sintering temperature. The average grain size was less than 500 nm when the sintering temperature was below 1 700 ℃. The sintering procedure contains a complex crystallization and a phase transition ： amorphous silicon nitride→equiaxial α- Si3 N4→ equiaxial β- Si3 N4→ rod- like Si2 N2O→ needle- like β- Si3N4 . Small round-shaped β→ Si3 N4 particles were entrapped in the Si2 N2O grains and a high density of staking faults was situated in the middle of Si2 N2O grains at a sintering temperature of 1 650 ℃. The toughness inereased from 3.5 MPa·m^1/2 at 1 600 ℃ to 7.2 MPa· m^1/2 at 1 800 ℃ . The hardness was as high as 21.5 GPa （Vickers） at 1 600 ℃ .

Bonding of Silicon Nitride Ceramic Composite with RE_2O_3Al_2O_3SiO_2 Glass Solders

Liquid bonding of Si 3N 4 ceramic composite was carried out with RE 2O 3 Al 2O 3 SiO 2 glass solders. The effect of bonding conditions and interfacial reaction on the joint strength was studied. The joint strength under different bonding conditions was measured by four point bending tests. The interfacial microstructures were observed and analyzed by SEM, EPMA and XRD. It is shown that the liquid glass solders react with Si 3N 4 at interface, forming the Si 3N 4/Si 2N 2O/Y(La) sialon glass/Y(La) sialon glass gradient interface. With the increase of bonding temperature and holding time, the joint strength first increased reaching a peak, and then decreased. According to microanalyses, LaYO 3 precipitated from joint glass improves joint strength at room and high temperature.

High Temperature Creep behaviour of a Si_3N_4 Whisker Reinforced Al-Fe-V-Si Composite

The creep behaviour of β-Si3N4 whisker reinforced Al-8.5Fe-1.3V-1.7Si composite has been investigated at the temperature 773 and 823 K. The results are characterized by high stress exponent and high apparent creep activation energy The creep data can be interpreted based on the incorporation of a threshold Stress and a load transfer coefficient into the power-law creep equation. A good correlation between the normalized creep rate and normalized effective stress is available which demonstrates that the creep behaviour of both the alloy and the composite is controlled by the matrix lattice self-diffusion in AI. EXamination on microstructure shows that edge dislocations exist at the interfaces between two adjacent whiskers and the intedeces emit edge dislocations in parallel paired-columns.

Pressureless infiltration of Si_3N_4 preforms with an Al-2wt%Mg alloy

The pressureless infiltration process to synthesize a silicon nitride composite was investigated. An Al-2wt%Mg alloy was infiltrated into silicon nitride preforms in the atmosphere of nitrogen. It is possible to infiltrate the Al-2wt%Mg alloy in silicon nitride preforms, The growth of the composite with useful thickness was facilitated by the presence of magnesium powder at the interface and by flowing nitrogen. The microstructure of the Si3N4-Al composite has been characterized using scanning electron microscope. During the infiltration of Si3N4 preforms, Si3N4 reacted with aluminium to form silicon and AIN. The silicon produced during the growth consumed in the formation of MgSiAIO, MgSiAlN and Al3.27Si0.47 type phases. The growth of the composite was found to proceed in two ways, depending on the oxide content in the initial preforms, First, less oxide content preforms gave rise to MgAlSiO and MgAlSiN type phases after infiltration. Second, more oxide content preforms gave rise to AlN-Al2O3 solid solution phase （AlON）, The AlON phase was only present in the composite, containing 10% aluminium in the silicon nitride preforms before infiltration.