Effect of Hot Pressing Time and Temperature on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of ZrB2-SiC

Abstract

Structure-property relations were examined for ZrB2 containing 30 volume percent SiC particulates. Two grades of ZrB2 with initial particle sizes of 2 and 6 mu m were used. Billets of ZrB2-SiCwere produced by hot pressing at 1850, 1950 or 2050 degrees C for 45 min. In addition, the material prepared from ZrB2 with an initial particle size of 2 mu m was hot pressed at 2050 degrees C for 90 and 180 min. Microstructures and mechanical properties were characterized to determine the effects of the initial particle size, hot pressing time, and hot pressing temperature on the final grain size and morphology. The average grain size of the ZrB2 phase ranged from 2.2 to 4.7 mu m. Similarly, the average grain size of the SiC phase ranged from 1.2 to 2.7 mu m. Hardness and modulus of elasticity were not affected by the processing conditions with average values of 22 and 505 GPa, respectively. However, flexural strength decreased as grain size increased from a maximum of similar to 1050 MPa for the finest grain sizes to similar to 700 MPa for the largest grain sizes. Analysis suggested that the strength of ZrB2-SiC was limited by the size of the SiC inclusions in the ZrB2 matrix.

Department(s)

Materials Science and Engineering

Keywords and Phrases

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties; ZrB2-SiC

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

0022-2461

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2007 Springer Verlag, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jan 2007

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