Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T15:36:54.878Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Studies on the Scale-Up of the Microwave-Assisted Nitridation and Sintering of Reaction-Bonded Silicon Nitride

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

J. O. Kiggans
Affiliation:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tenn.
T. N. Tiegs
Affiliation:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tenn.
H. D. Kimrey
Affiliation:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Jon-Paul Maria
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pa.
Get access

Abstract

Studies using laboratory test samples have shown that microwave heating produces sintered reaction-bonded silicon nitride materials with improved properties [1,2]. The final challenge for processing this material by microwave heating is the development of a technology for processing larger batch-size quantities of these materials. Initial microwave scale-up experiments were performed using powder compacts of a bucket tappet geometry. In experiments using microwave-transparent boron nitride sample crucibles, temperature gradients within some crucibles led to larger variations in the sample densities than were obtained with the conventionally processed samples. The use of a microwave-suscepter type crucible made of silicon carbide and boron nitride resulted in an improved temperature uniformity and in density variations comparable to those obtained for the control groups.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Kiggans, J. O., Hubbard, C. R., Steele, R. R., Kimrey, H. D., Holcombe, C. E., and Tiegs, T. N., “Characterization of Silicon Nitride Synthesized By Microwave Heating,” in Ceramic Transactions, Microwaves. Theory, and Applications in Materials Processing. edited by Clark, D. E., Gac, F. D., and Sutton, W. H. (Am. Cer. Soc., Westerville, Ohio) 267272 (1991).Google Scholar
2. Kiggans, J. O. and Tiegs, T. N., “Characterization of Sintered Reaction Bonded Silicon Nitride Processed By Microwave Heating,” in Microwave Processing of Materials III. edited by Beatty, R. L., Sutton, W. H., and Iskander, M. F. (Mat. Res. Soc., Pittsburgh, Penn.) 285290 (1992).Google Scholar
3. Katz, R. N., Nitrogen Ceramics 1976–1981, pp. 320 in Progress in Nitrogen Ceramics, ed. Riley, F. L., Martinus Nijhoff Pub., The Hague, Netherlands (1983).Google Scholar
4. Richerson, D. W., Modern Ceramic Engineering. Marcel Dekker, New York (1982).Google Scholar
5. Sheppard, L. M., “Cost-Effective Manufacturing of Advanced Ceramics,” Am. Ceram. Soc. Bull., 70 [4] 692707 (1991).Google Scholar
6. Mangels, J. A. and Tennenhouse, G. J., “Densification of Reaction-Bonded Silicon Nitride,” Am. Ceram. Soc. Bull., 59 [12] 12161222 (1980).Google Scholar
7. Ezis, A., “The Fabrication and Properties of Slip-Cast Silicon Nitride,” in Ceramics for High Performance Applications, edited by Burke, J. J., Gorum, A. E., and Katz, R. N. (Brook Hill Publishing Co.) 207222 (1974).Google Scholar
8. Tiegs, T. N., Kiggans, J. O., and Kimrey, H. D., “Microwave Processing of Silicon Nitride,” pp. 267272 in Microwave Processing of Materials-II, Vol. 189, ed. by Snyder, W.B., Sutton, W.H., Johnson, D.L., and Iskander, M.F., Materials Research Soc., Pittsburgh, PA 1991.Google Scholar
9. Kiggans, J. O., Tiegs, T. N., Kimrey, H. D., and Holcombe, C. E., “Processing Of Complex Sintered Reaction-Bonded Silicon Nitride Parts By Microwave Heating,” in Ceramic Transactions, Microwaves: Theory And Applications In Materials Processing II. edited by Clark, D. E., Tinga, W. R., and Laia, J. R. Jr, (Am. Cer. Soc., Westerville, Ohio) 269276 (1993).Google Scholar