The Carborundum Company

Richard H Smoak

John A Coppola

A method of pressureless sintering silicon carbide mixtures to obtain a sintered, dense product when the silicon carbide starting materials do not include a densification aid, such as boron, beryllium or aluminum, is described. The starting materials are mixtures containing predominantly particulate silicon carbide and include usually less than about 10 and, preferably, less than about 6 percent by weight of carbon in the form of elemental carbon or in the form of a carbon source material. The mixtures may also contain minor amounts of other additives, such as lubricants, surfactants or agglutinants, to aid in forming a compact, or green body, from the mixtures, or minor amounts of other ceramic materials depending upon the nature of the desired final product. The mixtures are formed into compacts, or green bodies, by known techniques. The powder compact is sintered under substantially pressureless conditions in a sintering atmosphere containing boron to produce a sintered product having a density of at least 85 percent and, preferably, greater than about 90 percent of the theoretical density of silicon carbide.

Method of producing a high density silicon carbide product

A sinterable silicon carbide mixture is described which is prepared by mixing finely-divided silicon carbide containing between about 0.5 and about 5.0 percent by weight of excess carbon with a finely-divided beryllium-containing additive wherein the amount of beryllium in the mixture is equal to between about 0.03 and about 1.5 percent by weight of the powder. A dense silicon carbide ceramic product is prepared from the powder mixture by pressureless sintering wherein the article is initially shaped and subsequently sintered in a beryllium-containing atmosphere at a temperature from about 1950.degree. to about 2300.degree. C.

Pressureless sintering beryllium containing silicon carbide powder

Disclosure is made of a high-density, high-strength silicon carbide ceramic material that is produced using a silicon carbide powder containing boron or boron-containing compound as a densification additive by the utilization of boron in the sintering atmosphere.

Growing community of inventors

Lewiston, NY, United States of America

Richard H Smoak