MELT INFILTRATION OF SILICON-CARBIDE COMPACTS .2. EVALUATION OF SOLIDIFICATION MICROSTRUCTURES

Microstructural aspects of alloy solidification within the interstices of porous compacts of platelet-shaped single crystals of alpha-SiC, when the latter are infiltrated with a hot metal under pressure, have been described. Microstructural evidence is presented of selective reorientation of platelets and non-homogeneous solute distribution under shear of pressurized melt, of constrained growth of primary solid within finite width zones and of the modulation of coring due to microsegregation as a result of variations in the pore size of compacts.