Correlation between microstructure and mechanical properties in silicon carbide with alumina addition

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Abstract
The microstructure of pressureless sintered silicon carbide (SiC) materials with alumina (Al2O3) addition was investigated using analytical electron microscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance. A sintered body with a density of higher than 99% theoretical was obtained with an addition of 5 wt.% Al2O3. The sintered body (SiC–Al2O3) has high strength, high fracture toughness, and high fatigue resistance. Its fracture toughness is approximately 5 MPa-m1/2, which is twice as high as that of pressureless sintered SiC materials with boron and carbon additions (SiC–B–C). The correlation between the microstructure and the mechanical properties is presented here. The starting β–SiC powder is mostly transformed to α–SiC with various polytype distributions during the sintering process. The microstructure has homogeneously distributed, fine, plate-like interlocking gains with a high aspect ratio. Well-developed basal planes form parallel and elongated boundaries, and the crystal structure is mostly the 6H polytype (56%) mixed with thin lamellar 4H.