Ceramic of the Mullite–ZrO2–SiAlON System During Spark Plasma Sintering

Results are provided for a study of ceramic of the mullite–ZrO2–SiAlON system formed from oxide mixtures with addition of SiAlON nanopowder during spark plasma sintering (SPS) compared with properties of similar ceramic prepared by traditional sintering. It is shown that ceramic prepared by the SPS-process (compared with traditional sintering) has high indices for density (3.10 – 3.32 g/cm3), ultimate strength in compression (295 – 305 MPa), and also a high elasticity modulus (170 – 180 MPa) after ten thermal shock cycles. This is due to the packing density of mullite formations within sintered specimen microstructure, including ZrO2 inclusions of cubic modification.