Hard nanostructured SiC material was produced within 3 minutes from mechanically activated powder by the simultaneous application of a pressure of 500MPa and a 2,800 A pulsed current. The pulsed current activated sintering was performed on SiC of various grain sizes. With a finer initial SiC powder size, the resulting density was higher and the SiC possessed improved mechanical properties. The fracture toughness, hardness, and grain size of the sintered SiC were investigated.
Keywords: Rapid sintering, Nanostructured material, Silicon carbide, Hardness, Toughness