Textures in AiN-SiC Composite Ceramics

Abstract

AbstractHistorically, texture analysis has been useful in explaining processing-induced property anisotropy in metals and deformation history in geological materials. Texture analysis, however, has not been fully utilized in explaining similar phenomena in ceramic systems. The scarcity of texture analysis in ceramic systems could conceivably stem from the classical conception that textures rarely develop in ceramic materials because of their lack of plasticity. While it is true that slip-based textures occur in only a limited number of ceramic systems, textures occur in a multitude of ceramic systems in which dislocation plasticity is not observed. The most prominent non-slip-based texture development mechanism in ceramic systems is grain rotation during processing. Other possible mechanisms for texture development in ceramics are seeded solid solution formation and oriented grain growth. These non-slip-based texture development mechanisms and other phenomena related to the measurement of textures in covalent ceramics are discussed in the context of the A1N-SiC system.