Characterization and impression creep testing of silicon aluminum oxynitride ceramics

Three Yb-containing SiAlON materials were studied for potential use as hot section components in advanced microturbine engines. Two of the materials consisted of equiaxed alpha-SiAlON grains, elongated beta-SiAlON grains, and an amorphous intergranular phase containing a relatively large amount of Yb. The third material consisted of alpha- and beta-SiAlON grains with equiaxed morphologies and virtually no intergranular phase.; An instrument was designed and constructed for impression creep testing of the YbSiAlON materials. Uniaxial compression creep experiments were also performed for comparison. In compression creep, the SiAlON materials exhibited activation energies that were similar to those of other SiAlONs reports in the literature, and stress exponents that were approximately 1. In impression creep, the SiAlONs tested exhibited activation energies similar to those reported in the literature for SiAlONs tested in uniaxial compression and tension. However, the SiAlON composition with equiaxed beta-SiAlON grains showed an exaggerated activation energy due to a change in creep mechanism above 1340°C. The measured stress exponents in impression creep were approximately 2. The stress state present below the punch in impression creep caused dilation to occur in the grain structure. The dilation results in an increase in the volume of the multi-grain junctions, and an increased dependence of strain rate on stress. The enlarged multi-grain junctions can become filled with the intergranular glassy phase. These large pockets of the glassy phase can enable an additional creep mechanism whereby the equiaxed grains slide past each other viscously.; All of the SiAlONs developed an additional volume of the intergranular glassy phase during creep testing. A microstructure containing elongated beta-SiAlON grains is most effective in enhancing creep performance of the Yb-SiAlON materials tested. The impression creep data for the Yb-SiAlON materials can be related to the compression creep data by using a stress correction factor of 1.6 and an effective gauge length of 1.2 times the punch diameter when the creep testing conditions are the same.