Sintering shrinkage behavior of Si₃N₄ ceramics prepared by a post-reaction sintering technique.

Abstract

Post-reaction sintering technique is one of the fabrication process of Si₃N₄ ceramics, which has received much attention as cost-effective process due to using cheap Si powder as a raw material. Many researches on the development of this method have been performed, so far, in order to improve their properties; however, sintering shrinkage behavior, which is very important information to optimize the firing condition, has not been well clarified. In this study, we focused on post-reaction sintering technique of Si-Y₂O₃-Al₂O₃ system, and investigated its sintering shrinkage behavior by dilatometory.