Sic-Reinforced Cordierite Composites Formed by Viscous Sintering of Cordierite Powders

One approach for improving mechanical properties of ceramics is to add reinforcing whiskers; however, addition of whiskers often inhibits densification. Formation of SiCcordierite composites by pressureless sintering was studied. The cordierite composites densified by viscous sintering; after densification the amorphous matrix then crystallized. It was shown that high green density composites obtained by using small particle size powder gave the highest sintered density composites. Reducing the aspect ratio of the SiC phase also improved sintered composite densities. Densities greater than 96% were obtained using small particle size cordierite powder formed by a sol-gel process and either classified SiC whiskers or SiC powder at SiC loadings of 20 vol%