Gas pressure sintering of silicon nitride - current status

Gas pressure sintering of silicon nitride is now common for obtaining a dense as well as tough product. A review of earlier works has revealed that there are still controversies in prediction of mechanism of the sintering process. Analysis of the kinetics of the process obtained by integration of a dilatometer inside the furnace has been presented. The mechanism of sintering silicon nitride powder compacts in presence of hyperbaric nitrogen atmosphere has been discussed. It has been observed that intermediate stage densification kinetics is very much susceptible to sintering atmosphere and time of pressurisation. The microstructure of the final product has been found to be dependent primarily on the method of incorporation of additive in the starting silicon nitride powders. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.