Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 February 2011
Si3N4 ceramics prepared with refractory grain boundary phases to improve high temperature properties are difficult to densify by conventional sintering methods. Gas-pressure sintering may be used to promote densification and development of acicular grains for improved fracture toughness. The current study examined rare earth silicate sintering aids with the composition M2Si2O7, where M is a trivalent cation (Y, La, Nd). M2O3 and Si02 additions were varied to develop a number of compositions in the Si3N4—Si2N2O—M2Si2O7 ternary phase field. Pressureless sintering and gas-pressure sintering were used to densify the samples. Densification, microstructure development, oxidation resistance, and mechanical properties were evaluated and compared with respect to compositional variations and processing conditions.