Effect of Weight Loss on Liquid-Phase-Sintered Silicon Carbide

The evaporation of silicon carbide (SiC) ceramics during sintering has been studied by thermogravimetry in a graphite furnace filled with argon. The SiC powder compacts contained 7.5 wt% eutectic composition of Y₂O₃–Al₂O₃ to promote liquid-phase sintering. A weight loss of 1–11 wt% was observed during sintering, depending on the sintering temperature and sintering time. The weight loss severely influenced the final density and the microstructure of the SiC ceramics. Particularly, the oxide sintering aids, which were homogeneously distributed in the green ceramics, were observed to segregate and form particular patterns that were dependent on the temperature, sintering time, and the total weight loss. Possible heterogeneous reactions evolving volatile species have been discussed in relation to the experimental observations.