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Alumina - silicon carbide composites from kaolinite-carbon precursors by hot-pressing

University of British Columbia

The system kaolinite - carbon black consisting of cheap precursors has been investigated, in terms of its potential to form A1₂ O₃ - SiC composites. The carbothermal reduction process of mullite and silica was studied, in detail, in the range 1275° to 1810° C and over different periods, both under sintering as well as hot-pressing conditions. It was established that the reduction of mullite and silica starts around 1450° C, where the rate of reaction is very slow. Until about 1800° C during the reduction of mullite, SiO₂ gets preferentially reduced, thus forming a composite ceramic consisting of SiC and A1₂ O₃ phases. The kinetics of the formation of SiC + A1₂ O₃ were followed in the range 1590° - 1660° C and it was noted that under hot-pressing conditions they follow a contracting cylinder model. The rate of reaction increased with the increase in temperature and followed a parabolic path with time because of the geometry of the hot-pressed specimens at each temperature. This indicated that the gas diffusion in and out of the system along the edges of the cylindrical specimens is the rate controlling step. The activation energy of the reduction process was calculated to be 922 KJ/mole. The application of pressure prior to the carbothermal reduction process seemed to be not favourable for the formation of SiC and A1₂ O₃, however, when applied after the beginning of soaking period, this greatly improved the densities and formation of SiC and A1₂ O₃. The microstructure of the samples was analysed using SEM and TEM. It was found that the grain size of the composite ceramic was of the order of 0.2μm. SiC was present mainly in the form of fine platelets. Finally, the isothermal compaction behaviour of the system was studied under a constant pressure in the temperature range 1200° C - 1800° C, during which the formation and carbothermal reduction of mullite and silica took place. A mathematical model based on the least squares fitting was used to fit the compaction curves. Due to the complex nature of the compaction data an empirical approach was used to interpret the data and a viscoelastic model was developed. It was found that the interactive-double-Kelvin unit having two elastic and two viscous components explained the type of compaction behaviour observed in the kaolinite + C system. One of the viscous components (η₁) and one of the elastic components (M₁) were found to be temperature sensitive. It is concluded that starting from the cheap precursors (kaolinite and carbon black) a particulate composite of A1₂ O₃,-SiC can be produced by hot-pressing technique. SiC-whisker formation is not encountered in this system. The very fine grain size of the paniculate composite, resulting in a small flaw size, should provide the composite ceramic with good mechanical properties.

Text

2010-09-16

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/28509

Materials Engineering

University of British Columbia

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