Mixture Design and Response Surface Analysis of Densification of Silicon Carbide Ceramics with (SiO2–Dy2O3–Al2O3) Additives

Abstract

Statistical mixture designs are used to systematically study the densification properties of silicon carbide (SiC) ceramics sintered with SiO2, Dy2O3, and Al2O3. Mixture models for percentage theoretical density and SiC weight loss as a function of the SiO2, Dy2O3, and Al2O3 oxide proportions have been determined and validated by analysis of variance. The results indicate a region confined by about 0–20 mol% silica, 50–65 mol% dysprosia, and 40–65 mol% alumina, with all samples containing 10% by volume of additives, and simultaneously maximization of density values and minimization of weight loss during SiC‐based ceramic sintering.