Structure and mechanical properties of SiC fabricated by the reaction sintering method have been investigated by varying the blending composition of Si, C and SiC powders. First, specimens of the first-sintered body were formed at 473 K under a pressure of 20 MPa in a metallic mold and then sintered by heating at 973 K for 3.6 ks in Ar gas atmosphere. The first-sintered specimens were next put into a graphite mold to set Fe-75mass%Si alloy, which is often used as an inoculation agent, on the specimens and then held at 1693 K for 900 s in a vacuum furnace under a pressure of 10-1 Pa. Finally, SiC was successfully performed as a second-sintered body through the infiltration of Fe-75%Si alloy melt into the porous first-sintered body, which was followed by their mutual reaction. The microstructure and distributions of Fe and Si elements were observed using laser microscope and EPMA respectively. The hardness and fracture toughness were measured using a micro-Vickers hardness tester.
The results indicate good infiltration of Fe-75%Si alloy melt into the first sintered body and that the second sintered body had a small amount of porosity. Iron carbides could not be found in the sintered structure but finely distributed iron silicides of FeSi and FeSi2 were found. Furthermore, the fracture toughness of the body increased with increasing C content in the first sintered body. The mechanical properties were improved more than that of conventional sintered SiC when Fe-Si alloy was employed. The improvement in the properties is thought to be due to the uniform and fine distribution of FeSi, FeSi2 and SiC in the matrix.
