Investigating the porous structure of reaction sintered silicon nitride by the standard contact porometric method

A study was made of the change in the porous structure of blanks containing powdered silicon, with subsequently increasing reaction-sintering time in a nitrogen atmosphere. It is shown that in the initial stages of reaction-sintering, the reduction in the porosity occurs on account of the reduction in the sizes of the large pores and the growth of the fine ones. In the following stages the porosity of the ceramic is reduced on account of the growth of the pores of predominant size.