Study of the Sintering Kinetics of Silicon Nitride Containing Ceria and Alumina Additives

摘要

Sintering kinetics of silicon nitride based ceramics with CeO_2 and Al_2O_3 sintering aids was investigated. The total amount of oxides was kept constant at 10 weight percent, while the ratio of Ce_2O_3 and Al_2O_3 was a variable parameter. Dilatometric experiments showed that the investigated materials in general densified readily. However, the increase of Ce_2O_3 contents hindered densification, shifting the maximum vales of shrinkage to higher temperatures. The changes observed in the sintering kinetics behavior promote no variation in the final microstructure.