Microstructure–Mechanical Properties–Wear Resistance Relationship of SiAlON Ceramics

Abstract

In designing wear-resistant ceramics, it is important to understand the influence of the microstructure and material properties on friction and wear behavior. In addressing such issues, a series of fretting-wear tests was carried out on an important nonoxide engineering ceramic, i.e., SiAlON ceramics, densified using both pressureless and gas-pressure sintering routes. Under the selected operating conditions with a commercial SiAlON ball as a counterbody, tribomechanical wear assisted by deep abrasive grooves, plowing, grain pullout, and microcracking was observed as the major wear mechanism. In addition, the formation of a discontinuous silica-rich tribochemical layer on the worn surface was also observed. Although the steady-state coefficient of friction (COF) varies in a narrow window of 0.59 to 0.64, the wear rate of the investigated SiAlON ceramics lies in the range 7.3 9 10 À6 to 8.4 9 10 À5 mm 3 /NAEm. An attempt has been made to correlate wear loss with hardness and indentation toughness. Concerning the influence of the microstructure, the wear rate is found to have an inverse linear correlation with the b-SiAlON content. Another important observation has been that the wear rate has an inverse linear relationship with the substitution parameter (z).

Incorporation of the transition metals (Cr and Fe) into β-SiAlON crystal structure

“…The more detailed information about composition and production method of SiAlON ceramics can also be found in previous studies [16,17]. However, in this study instead of high purity a-Si 3 N 4 , less pure b-Si 3 N 4 containing transition metal (Fe and Cr) impurities was chosen as a starting powder to produce cost effective SiAlON ceramics.…”

Microstructure and Wear Behavior of Plasma-Sprayed TiO2–SiAlON Ceramic Coating

“…[5][6][7] Among them, β-SiAlON ceramics described by the formula Si 6-z Al z O z N 8-z , where Z represents the substitution of Z Si-N bonds by Z Al-O bonds [8], are used under demanding working conditions, such as cutting tools and wear components, due to their high hardness and outstanding wear resistance [9]. In previous studies, β-SiAlON ceramics were prepared by sintering, such as hot pressing [10][11][12] and spark plasma sintering (SPS) [13][14][15][16] of Si 3 N 4 , Al 2 O 3 and AlN blended powder. However, sintering is unsuitable for components with complex shapes and large sizes.…”

DEPENDENCE OF SiAlON-TiN COMPOSITE PROPERTIES ON TiN REINFORCEMENT PARTICLE SIZES

“…SiAlON ceramics are the most common materials which are used in diverse applications such as cutting tools, thermocouple protection tubes, non-ferrous molten metal handling, crucibles, wear parts, biomaterial, etc. due to high mechanical, corrosion, oxidation, wear, thermal shock resistance and high temperature properties [1][2][3][4][5][6]. However their performance sometimes is insufficient in several applications.…”