The effects of nanoparticle addition on the densification and properties of SiC

The effects of nanoparticle addition on the pressureless sintering of injection molded and thermally debound silicon carbide (SiC) samples were studied. The influence of increased powder content and reduced particle size on the densification, microstructure and properties are discussed. The sintered parts of bimodal mu-n SiC mixtures exhibited comparable sintered density but lower shrinkage than the corresponding monomodal mu-SiC powder mixtures. Additionally, the mechanical and thermal properties of sintered monomodal and bimodal SiC samples were measured and compared with literature data for conventional monomodal mu-SiC systems. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.