SiAlON-based ceramics are some of the most typical oxynitride ceramic materials, which can be used as cutting tools for heat-resistant super-alloys (HRSA). SiAlON can be fabricated by using gas-pressure reactive sintering from the raw materials, nitrides and oxides such as Si3N4, AlN, Al2O3, and Yb2O3. In this study, we fabricate Ybm/3Si12-(m+n)Alm+nOnN16-n (m=0.3, n=1.9, 2.3, 2.7) ceramics by using gas-pressure sintering at different sintering temperatures. Then, the densification behavior, phase formation, microstructure, and hardness of the sintered specimens are characterized. We obtain a fully densified specimen with β- SiAlON after gas-pressure sintering at 1820℃ for 90 min. under 10 atm N2 pressure. These SiAlON ceramic materials exhibited hardness values of ~92.9 HRA. The potential of these SiAlON ceramics for cutting tool application is also discussed.

The porous Mg3Sb2 based compounds with 60~70% of relative density were prepared by powder compaction at room temperature and reactive liquid phase sintering at 1023 K for 4hrs. The stoichiometric Mg3Sb2 compounds were synthesized from elemental Sb and Mg powder in the mixing range of 61~63 at% Mg. The increased scattering effect due to the micro-pores reduced the mobility of the charge carrier and the phonon, which caused the electrical conductivity and the thermal conductivity to decrease, respectively. But the scattering effect was greater for the electrical conductivity than for the thermal conductivity. Excess Mg alloyed in the Mg3Sb2 compounds decreased the electrical conductivity, but had no effect on the thermal conductivity. On the other hand, the large increase of the Seebeck coefficient was the result of a decrease in the charge carrier density due to the excess Mg. Dimensionless figure of merit of the porous Mg3Sb2 compound reached a maximum value of 0.28 at 61 at% Mg. The obtained value was similar to that of Mg3Sb2 compounds having little pores.

intermetallics containing 0-6 wt% of Cu were made by reactive sintering (RS) under vacuum using elemental powder mixtures (Process 1), electro-pressure sintering (EPS) using RS'ed materials (Process2), and EPS using elemental powder mixtures (Process 3). Relatively low dense titanium silicides were gained by process 1, in which porosity decreased with increasing Cu content. For example, porosity changed from 42 to 19.4% with the increase in Cu content from 0 to 6 wt%, indicating that Cu is a useful sintering aid. The titanium silicides fabricated by Process 2 had a higher density than those by Process 1 at given composition, and porosity decreased with increasing Cu content. For example, porosity decreased from 38 to 6.8% with the change in Cu content from 0 to 6 wt%. A high dense titanium silicides were obtained by Process 3. In this Process, porosity decreased a little by Cu addition, and was almost insensitive to Cu content. Namely, about 9 or 7% of porosity was shown in 0 or 1-6 wt% Cu containing silicides, respectively. The hardeness increased by Cu addition, and was not changed markedly with Cu content for the silicides fabricated by Process 3. This tendency was considered to be resulted from porosity, hardening of grain interior by Cu addition, and softening of grain boundary by Cu-base segregates. All these results suggested that EPS using elemental powder mixtures (Process 3) is an effective processing method to achieve satisfactorily dense titanium silicides.

Engine valve-shaped TiAl-Mn intermetallics containing 43.5 to 47.5at%Al (Mn/Al=0.036) are successively fabricated by reactive sintering the elemental powder mixtures near-net shaped by extrusion and die forging. A duplex structure consisted of lamellar grains and equiaxed grains is developed for all compositions, and the areal fraction of the lamellar grains(or equiaxed grains) decreases (or increases) with increasing Al content. As Al content increased, the elongation increases with accompanying decrease in yield strength and ultimate tensile strength at both room temperature and 80. This indicates that the suitable composition is Ti-45at%Al-1.6at%Mn in considering the balance of ambient and elevated tensile properties. The reactive-sintered Ti-45Al-1.6Mn alloy shows superior oxidation resistance not only to the plasma arc melted one but also to the heat resistance steel STR35(representative exhaust valve head material for automotive engine). The reactive-sintered Ti-45Al-1.6Mn alloy coated with an oxidizing scale exhibits a better wear resistance than induction hardened martensitic steel STR11(representative exhaust valve tip material for automotive engine).