Effect of ZrB2 Particle Size on Pressureless Sintering of ZrB2 - ß-Sic Composites

Abstract

Zirconium diboride is an ultra high temperature ceramic material that leads this emerging class of materials because of its distinct combination of properties, including high melting temperature (> 3000 °C) and the lowest theoretical density (6.09 g·cm-3) among the borides. This combination of properties makes ZrB2 candidate for airframe leading edges on sharp-bodied reentry vehicles. In this work, the effect of particle size of ZrB2 on the pressureless sintering of ZrB2-SiC composites was studied, using ZrB2 powder with average particle size of 2.6 and 14.2µm. Four different vol% concentration of ß-SiC (0, 10, 20 and 30 vol%) were added to as-received and planetary milled ZrB2 powder. Samples were pressureless sintered at 2050 °C/1h in argon atmosphere. The reduction of initial ZrB2 particle size led to composites with better results of densification, mechanical properties and oxidation resistance regardless ß-SiC addition, showing relative densities around 92.5 %Theoretical Density (Td) and flexural strength and microhardness around 260 MPa and 17.5 GPa, respectively. Composites processed with as-received ZrB2 powder showed increasing in densification and flexural strength with the SiC content increasing. Relative density varied from 74.7 to 90.8 %TD and flexural strength from 102 to 241 MPa, for 0 and 30 vol% of SiC, respectively.