Abstract
The deformation behavior of boron and carbon doped β-silicon carbide (B,C-SiC) with grain size of 260 nm was investigated by compression tests at elevated temperatures. Remarkable grain growth during deformation was observed. The stress-strain curves were corrected for grain growth. The stress exponent n was 1.3 and the grain size exponent p was 2.7. The apparent activation energy for deformation was 763 kJ/mol, which was lower than the activation energy of lattice diffusion of silicon and carbon. These results suggest that the dominant deformation mechanism of B,C-SiC is the grain boundary sliding which are rate-controlled by the grain boundary diffusion with a contribution of lattice diffusion.
