SINTERING OF B4C-SIC COMPOSITES WITH ALN-Y2O3 ADDITION

One suitable material candidate to improve B4C mechanical properties is SiC. B4C-SiC ceramic composites are very promising armor materials because B4C and SiC are intrinsically very hard. In this work a pressureless sintering study of B4C-SiC ceramics was made. B4C-SiC mixtures were prepared with SiC concentration from 10 to 50 wt%. Without the external applied pressure during sintering it was necessary to add sintering aid. The additive system AlN-Y2O3 was investigated as sintering aid. Samples were densified by pressureless sintering at 2000 degrees C/30 min in an argon atmosphere. B4C-SiC composites were analyzed by XRD and SEM. Bulk density and total weight loss were also measured. Density higher than 93 % of the theoretical value was determined and microhardness of 30.3 GPa was achieved for composite with 10 wt% of SiC sintered with AlN-Y2O3 additive.