Very Rapid Densification of Nanometer Silicon Carbide Powder by Pulse Electric Current Sintering

Rapid densification of a nanometer SiC powder doped with 2.04 wt% Al₄C₃ and 0.4 wt% B₄C was conducted by using a nonconventional sintering technique called pulse electric current sintering (PECS). In all experiments, the sintering temperature and applied pressure were kept to be 1600^oC and 47 MPa, respectively, while heating rates varied between 100^oC/min and 400^oC/min and the holding time was either 2 or 5 min. All of the specimens which were PECS-sintered under various conditions reached near-theoretical density. The microstructures of the rapidly densified SiC ceramics consisted of large elongated grains, and the grain size increased with the increase of heating rate. Polytype transformation of SiC occurred during the PECS process, where faster heating favored the formation of 6H polytype while slower heating favored 4H polytype.