Effect of active metal coatings on the mechanical properties of silicon nitride-based ceramics

Abstract

The effects of titanium, zirconium, hafnium and tantalum coatings on the mechanical properties of three silicon nitride ceramics were studied. The titanium coatings was found to cause a 50% decrease in the four-point bend strength of one of the silicon nitride ceramics while the effects of the zirconium, hafnium and tantalum coatings on all three silicon nitride ceramics were moderate. The reactions at a high temperature (940–980°C) between titanium and the grain-boundary glassy phase was the major cause for the degradation of the ceramic properties by the titanium coating. Residual tensile stress developed at the reaction interface replaced the glassy grain-boundary phase. Analytical electron microscopy showed the formation of a 180 nm thick Ti5Si3 layer and the crystallization of the amorphous grain-boundary phase. An indentation technique was used to measure qualitatively the residual stress developed at the reaction interface.