Abstract
SiC-AIN solid-solution ceramics were prepared by pressureless sintering using Al2O3 and Y2O3 as the sintering additives. The resulting ceramics were subjected to annealing treatments over a range of temperatures from 1400 °C to 1800 °C in the spinodal region. The fracture toughness of the annealed ceramics was examined, by the indentation method, in relation to the annealing temperature and annealing time. X-ray diffraction profiles revealed that phase separation occurred during annealing. In ceramics containing 50 mol % SiC annealed at 1800 °C, the morphology of the phase separation is the characteristic modulated stratiform structure. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) showed that the structure consisted of alternations of silicon-rich and aluminium-rich composition. The fracture toughness of the annealed ceramics increased compared to the as-sintered solid-solution ceramics. The phase separation is expected to contribute to the toughening of ceramics with nanometre-scale texture.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
F. ABBE and J. CHERMANT, J. Amer. Ceram. Soc. 73 (1990) 2573.
R. VELTRI, D. CONDIT and F. GALASSO, J. Amer. Ceram. Soc. 72 (1989) 478.
G. C. WEI and P. F. BECHER, J. Amer. Ceram. Soc. 67 (1984) 571.
A. G. EVANS, J. Amer. Ceram. Soc. 73 (1990) 187.
G. HIMSOLT, H. KNOCH, H. HUBNER and F. W. KLEINLEIN, J. Amer. Ceram. Soc. 62 (1979) 29.
A. ZANGVIL and R. RUH, J. Amer. Ceram. Soc. 71 (1988) 884.
J. W. RAFANIELLO, M. R. PLICHTA and A. V. VIRKER, J. Amer. Ceram. Soc. 66 (1983) 272.
W. WEI and R. LEE, J. Mater. Sci. 26 (1991) 2930.
A. ZANGVIL and R. RUH, J. Mater. Sci. Lett. 3 (1984) 249.
M. W. PARK, T. E. MITCHELL and A. H. HEUER, J. Mater. Sci. 11 (1976) 1227.
T. C. YUAN and A. V. VIRKAR, J. Amer, Ceram. Soc. 71 (1988) 12.
S. KUO and A. V. VIRKAR, J. Amer. Ceram. Soc. 73 (1990) 2640.
S. HIRANO, T. YOGO, K. KIKUTA, S. ARAKAWA, Y. SEKI and M. KAWAMOTO, in “Ceramic transactions”, Vol. 22 (American Ceramic Society, Westerville, OH, 1991) p. 727.
R. LEE, and W. WEI, Ceram. Engng. Sci. Proc. 11 (1990) 1094.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Miura, M., Yogo, T. & Hirano, S.I. Phase separation and toughening of SiC-AIN solid-solution ceramics. JOURNAL OF MATERIALS SCIENCE 28, 3859–3865 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00353191
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00353191