Effect of Initial Alpha-SiC Content on Thermal Conductivity of Silicon Carbide Ceramics

Abstract

By using α-and/or β-SiC powders, the effects of initial α-phase content on the microstructure and thermal properties of the SiC ceramics sintered with Y2O3 and Sc2O3 were investigated. When α-SiC powder was used, the microstructure consisted of large equiaxed grains and small equiaxed grains. The average grain size decreased with increasing α-SiC content in the starting composition. The thermal conductivity decreased with increasing α-SiC content in the starting composition. Such results suggest that the grain growth of SiC ceramics is beneficial in increasing the thermal conductivity of liquid-phase sintered SiC ceramics. The thermal conductivity of SiC ceramics processed from a 90% β-SiC-10% α-SiC powder mixture was 159 W/m∙K at room temperature.