Hot forging of a textured α-sialon ceramic

A texture was introduced into an Sm-alpha-sialon ceramic by hot pressing, such that the c-axis was preferentially oriented normal to the pressing direction. The material was then uniaxially hot forged for up to 60 min, with the forging direction normal to the hot-pressing direction. The texture initially reduced to a one-dimensional preferential orientation in the direction normal to both the hot-pressing and hot-forging directions. Further deformation resulted in a two-dimensional texture normal to the hot-forging direction. The forging process was used to produce a strong one-dimensional texture by alternating between the hot-pressing and hot-forging directions, thereby producing a material with significant anisotropy in its properties.