Hardness Measurements and Interface Behavior of SiC-B4C-Si Multiple Phase Particulate Composites Made with Melt Infiltration and Additive Manufacturing

Corson L. Cramer; Ercan Cakmak; Kinga A. Unocic

doi:10.3390/jcs7040172

Hardness Measurements and Interface Behavior of SiC-B₄C-Si Multiple Phase Particulate Composites Made with Melt Infiltration and Additive Manufacturing

Corson L. Cramer, Ercan Cakmak, Kinga A. Unocic

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Reaction-bonded SiC-B₄C-Si ceramic composites were binder jet 3D-printed and subsequently pressureless-melt-infiltrated with molten Si. The addition of B₄C aided the Si infiltration to produce a highly dense composite. The microstructures and phases of these composites were examined. The measured hardness values of each constituent with Vickers and nanoindentation matched the bulk values, and the macro-hardness values with Knoop and spherical indentation represented the bulk, composite hardness values of all three phases together, which was close to a rule of mixtures value. For particulate-based composites, this is a significant finding. The interfacial bonds of SiC and Si were imaged using scanning transmission electron microscopy to view intimacy, whereas the crack propagation was examined with carefully placed indents. This work demonstrated that pressureless melt infiltration with a reactive particle provides a method to shape non-wetting reaction-bonded ceramic composites with limited shrinkage and high density and provides insights into the mechanical behavior with numerous indentation techniques.

Original language	English
Article number	172
Journal	Journal of Composites Science
Volume	7
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/jcs7040172
State	Published - Apr 2023

Funding

The authors thank Walter Koncinski for the help with formatting and editing the manuscript, Andrew Wereszczak and Richard Berger for their help with indentation measurement and analysis, and Dorothy Coffey for assistance with TEM sample preparation. This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office of Advanced Manufacturing and Propulsion Materials program, under the Vehicle Technology Office, under contract number DE-AC05-00OR22725. This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States Government retains, and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan).

Funders	Funder number
DOE Public Access Plan
United States Government
U.S. Department of Energy
Advanced Manufacturing Office	DE-AC05-00OR22725
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
UT-Battelle

Keywords

Hertzian indentation
SiC-BC-Si composite
binder jet 3D printing
hardness
interfaces
pressureless melt infiltration

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.3390/jcs7040172

Cite this

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title = "Hardness Measurements and Interface Behavior of SiC-B4C-Si Multiple Phase Particulate Composites Made with Melt Infiltration and Additive Manufacturing",

abstract = "Reaction-bonded SiC-B4C-Si ceramic composites were binder jet 3D-printed and subsequently pressureless-melt-infiltrated with molten Si. The addition of B4C aided the Si infiltration to produce a highly dense composite. The microstructures and phases of these composites were examined. The measured hardness values of each constituent with Vickers and nanoindentation matched the bulk values, and the macro-hardness values with Knoop and spherical indentation represented the bulk, composite hardness values of all three phases together, which was close to a rule of mixtures value. For particulate-based composites, this is a significant finding. The interfacial bonds of SiC and Si were imaged using scanning transmission electron microscopy to view intimacy, whereas the crack propagation was examined with carefully placed indents. This work demonstrated that pressureless melt infiltration with a reactive particle provides a method to shape non-wetting reaction-bonded ceramic composites with limited shrinkage and high density and provides insights into the mechanical behavior with numerous indentation techniques.",

keywords = "Hertzian indentation, SiC-BC-Si composite, binder jet 3D printing, hardness, interfaces, pressureless melt infiltration",

author = "Cramer, {Corson L.} and Ercan Cakmak and Unocic, {Kinga A.}",

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AU - Cramer, Corson L.

AU - Cakmak, Ercan

AU - Unocic, Kinga A.

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N2 - Reaction-bonded SiC-B4C-Si ceramic composites were binder jet 3D-printed and subsequently pressureless-melt-infiltrated with molten Si. The addition of B4C aided the Si infiltration to produce a highly dense composite. The microstructures and phases of these composites were examined. The measured hardness values of each constituent with Vickers and nanoindentation matched the bulk values, and the macro-hardness values with Knoop and spherical indentation represented the bulk, composite hardness values of all three phases together, which was close to a rule of mixtures value. For particulate-based composites, this is a significant finding. The interfacial bonds of SiC and Si were imaged using scanning transmission electron microscopy to view intimacy, whereas the crack propagation was examined with carefully placed indents. This work demonstrated that pressureless melt infiltration with a reactive particle provides a method to shape non-wetting reaction-bonded ceramic composites with limited shrinkage and high density and provides insights into the mechanical behavior with numerous indentation techniques.

AB - Reaction-bonded SiC-B4C-Si ceramic composites were binder jet 3D-printed and subsequently pressureless-melt-infiltrated with molten Si. The addition of B4C aided the Si infiltration to produce a highly dense composite. The microstructures and phases of these composites were examined. The measured hardness values of each constituent with Vickers and nanoindentation matched the bulk values, and the macro-hardness values with Knoop and spherical indentation represented the bulk, composite hardness values of all three phases together, which was close to a rule of mixtures value. For particulate-based composites, this is a significant finding. The interfacial bonds of SiC and Si were imaged using scanning transmission electron microscopy to view intimacy, whereas the crack propagation was examined with carefully placed indents. This work demonstrated that pressureless melt infiltration with a reactive particle provides a method to shape non-wetting reaction-bonded ceramic composites with limited shrinkage and high density and provides insights into the mechanical behavior with numerous indentation techniques.

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