EFFECT OF MICROSTRUCTURE AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES ON WEAR RESISTANCE OF SILICON NITRIDE CERAMICS.docVIP

34 Materials Engineering, Vol. 16, 2008, No. 1 EFFECT OF MICROSTRUCTURE AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES ON WEAR RESISTANCE OF SILICON NITRIDE CERAMICS Pavol ?vec , Alena Brusilová , Jana Kozánková2 1 1 Received 27 March 2009; accepted in revised form 24 April 2009 th th Abstract The wear of Si N ceramics with high-resistant abrasive material during friction applications was 3 4 analyzed. Effects of the hot pressing parameters on the microstructures and properties of ceramic samples were evaluated. Negative influence of grain growth with increasing of the β-Si N phase ratio on wear resistance of 3 4 tested materials was proved. The volume loss of separate ceramic materials during the wear tests depended mainly inversely proportional on the hardness of ceramics. Both microcutting and microcracking mechanisms took part during the wear of Si N ceramics. 3 4 Keywords: ceramics, silicon nitride, microstructure, wear resistance 1. Introduction In the past few years, silicon nitride ceramics has been increasingly used as wear resistant material. High-temperature strength and hardness at acceptable toughness, good chemical stability and excellent thermal shock resistance are considered as the most important properties of those ceramic materials [1,2]. Silicon nitride has been successfully used in a wide variety of engineering applications involving contacts with metallic surfaces such as drawing dies, roller bearings, cutting tools, automotive or aerospace engine parts [3-5]. Fig. 1. Model of microcutting material surface by an abrasive grain Many studies, which are devoted to problems of ceramic wear resistance, confirmed the relationship between wear and some working parameters such as load, sliding and speed or kind of wear [2-5]. Abrasive wear is