Fabrication of YAG-SiC nanocomposites by spark plasma sintering

The heterogeneous precipitation method was used to prepare YAG-5 vol.% SiC powder. Hot-press sintering and spark plasma sintering were used to obtain dense sintered bodies. The present results revealed that nanoscale-sized SiC particles were well distributed within the composites, with most of the particles located within the YAG grains. The bending strength of spark-plasma-sintered YAG-5 vol.% SiC nanocomposites was 565 MPa, much higher than that of monolithic YAG ceramics. The fracture mode of the YAG-5 vol.% SiC nanocomposites was transgranular. The present results indicate that YAG-5% SiC nanocomposites are good high-temperature structural materials and that spark plasma sintering is appropriate for fabricating high-performance YAG-5 vol.% SiC nanocomposites with a fine microstructure because the method involves a low sintering temperature. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.