Effect of sintering aid composition on the processing of Si3N4/BN fibrous monolithic ceramics

Si3N4/BN fibrous monoliths were prepared with 4 wt% Y2O3 added as a sintering aid to the Si3N4. Residual carbon, present in the billet before hot-pressing, was shown to influence the final microstructure. The sintering aid glass, known to migrate into the BN cell boundaries during hot-pressing, was not sufficient in quantity to prevent premature shear failure when samples were tested in flexure. Increasing the hot-pressing temperature alleviated this problem. For flexure samples tested at 1400 degrees C, fibrous monoliths fabricated with 4 wt% Y2O3 demonstrated linear-elastic loading behavior at a greater stress than fibrous monoliths fabricated with 6-wt%-Y2O3/2-wt%-Al2O3 sintering aids.