Effect of time on microstructure and hardness of pSiAlON-cubic boron nitride composites during spark plasma sintering

摘要

PSiAlON-cubic boron nitride (cBN) composites were consolidated by spark plasma sintering, and the effects of holding time and heating rate on the phase transformation of cBN and Vickers hardness were investigated. The cBN phase transformed into hexagonal BN (hBN) and the hardness decreased with increasing holding time. The phase transformation from cBN-hBN was retarded by increasing the heating rate, resulting in increased hardness.