Grooving on SiC Ceramics Surface by Reaction with Solid Metal (Part 1)

Chemical reaction between SiC ceramics and solid metals has been used for making grooves on the sliding face of SiC ceramics. The grooving process was carried out by the procedure in which a stainless steel foil with exactly the same shape as the groove pattern was placed on the surface of the SiC ceramics, and a fragile product obtained by the chemical interaction at high temperature was removed. To accomplish the grooving process, the grooved face should be free from cracks and smooth. When the cracks were not generated on the SiC face, the cracks appeared on the stainless steel foil by the deterioration of the metal phase, i.e, the formation of fragile materials such as Fe5Si3, Cr23C6 and graphite during the reaction. The crack generation in SiC tended to initiate at lower reaction temperature with thick foils. The actual grooving process was considered to be accomplished by this interaction method.