To overcome the low mechanical strength and corrosion behavior of a carbon steel canister at high temperature condition of a deep borehole, SiC ceramics were studied as an alternative material for the disposal canister. In this paper, a design concept for a SiC canister, along with an outer stainless steel container, was proposed, and its manufacturing feasibility was tested by fabricating several 1/3 scale canisters. The proposed canister can contain one PWR assembly. The outer container was also prepared for the string formation of SiC canisters. Thermal conductivity was measured for the SiC canister. The canister had a good thermal conductivity of above 70 W·m-1·K-1 at 100℃. The structural stability was checked under KURT environment, and it was found that the SiC ceramics did not exhibit any change for the 3 year corrosion test at 70℃. Therefore, it was concluded that SiC ceramics could be a good alternative to carbon steel in application to deep borehole disposal canisters.

RBSC (reaction-bonded silicon carbide) represents a family of composite ceramics processed by infiltrating with molten silicon into a skeleton of SiC particles and carbon in order to fabricate a fully dense body of silicon carbide. RBSC has been commercially used and widely studied for many years, because of its advantages, such as relatively low temperature for fabrication and easier to form components with near-net-shape and high relative density, compared with other sintering methods. In this study, RBSC was fabricated with different size of SiC in the raw material. Microstructure, thermal and mechanical properties were characterized with the reaction-sintered samples in order to examine the effect of SiC size on the thermal and mechanical properties of RBSC ceramics. Especially, phase volume fraction of each component phase, such as Si, SiC, and C, was evaluated by using an image analyzer. The relationship between microstructures and physical properties was also discussed.

This paper reports the microstructures and thermal conductivities of -SiC composite ceramics with size and amount of SiC. We fabricated sintered bodies of -x vol.% SiC (x=10, 20, 30) with submicron and nanosized SiC densified by spark plasma sintering. Microstructure retained the initial powder size of especially SiC, except the agglomeration of nanosized SiC. For sintered bodies, thermal conductivities were examined. The observed thermal conductivity values are 40~60 W/mK, which is slightly lower than the reported values. The relation between microstructural parameter and thermal conductivity was also discussed.

This paper reports the effect of sintering processes and additives on the microstructures and mechanical properties of -SiC composite ceramics. We fabricated sintered bodies of -20 vol.% SiC with or without sintering additive, such as C or , densified by spark plasma sintering as well as hot pressing. While almost full densification was achieved regardless of sintering processes or sintering additives, significant grain growth was observed in the case of spark plasma sintering, especially with . With sintered bodies, mechanical properties, such as flexural strength and Vickers hardness, were also examined.

Zirconium diboride (ZrB2) and mixed diboride of (Zr0.7Ta0.3)B2 containing 30 vol.% silicon carbide (SiC) composites were prepared by hot-pressing at 1800˚C. XRD analysis identified the high crystalline metal diboride-SiC composites at 1800˚C. The TaB2 addition to ZrB2-SiC showed a slight peak shift to a higher angle of 2-theta of ZrB2, which confirmed the presence of a homogeneous solid solution. Elastic modulus, hardness and fracture toughness were slightly increased by addition of TaB2. A volatility diagram was calculated to understand the oxidation behavior. Oxidation behavior was investigated at 1500˚C under ambient and low oxygen partial pressure (pO2~10-8 Pa). In an ambient environment, the TaB2 addition to the ZrB2-SiC improved the oxidation resistance over entire range of evaluated temperatures by formation of a less porous oxide layer beneath the surface SiO2. Exposure of metal boride-SiC at low pO2 resulted in active oxidation of SiC due to the high vapor pressure of SiO (g), and, as a result, it produced a porous surface layer. The depth variations of the oxidized layer were measured by SEM. In the ZrB2-SiC composite, the thickness of the reaction layer linearly increased as a function of time and showed active oxidation kinetics. The TaB2 addition to the ZrB2-SiC composite showed improved oxidation resistance with slight deviation from the linearity in depth variation.

Through the observation of wear scar of two ceramic materials, microstructural wear mechanisms was investigated. As for the -5 vol% SiC nanocomposite, the grain boundary fracture was suppressed by the presence of SiC nano-particles. The intragranular SiC particles have inhibited the extension of plastic deformation through the whole grain. Part of plastic deformation was accommodated around SiC particles, which made a cavity at the interface between SiC and matrix alumina. On the other hand, gas-pressure sintered silicon nitride showed extensive grain boundary fracture due to the thermal fatigue. The lamination of wear scar was initiated by the dissolution of grain boundary phase. These two extreme cases showed the importance of microstructures in wear behavior.

반응결합 알루미나(RBAO)-SiC 세라믹스를 AI금속분말/AI2O3/SiC 분말혼합체로부터 제조하였다. 하소알루미나와 용융알루미나를 알루미나 분말공급원으로 사용하였다. 출발원료는 단일구경(3mm)또는 혼합구경(3mm+5mm)의 ZrO2볼로 어트리션 밀링 하였다. 정수압 성형한 시편을 1100˚C까지 1.5˚C/mim로 1차소성한 다음, 1500˚C~1600˚C까지 5˚C/mim으로 2차소성하였다. 용융알루미나와의 분말혼합체가 하소알루미나와의 분말혼합체보다 분쇄가 더욱 잘 되었다. 또한 단일구가 혼합구보다 분쇄에 더욱 효율적이었다. AI2O3 형태에 따른 반응소결거동에는 별 차이가 없었다.