Injection moldable ceramic-ceramic composites: Compounding behavior, whisker degradation, and orientation

During the past decade, enhanced processing has produced ceramic materials with improved mechanical properties and reliability. However, ceramic materials are still inherently brittle. Therefore, whisker-reinforced ceramic composites have recently received significant attention because of their attractive mechanical properties. In addition, the discrete nature and moderate aspect ratio of the short whiskers allow them to be processed into complex-shaped components, using automated fabrication methods, such as injection molding. Here, the compounding behavior of injection moldable silicon powder - SiC whisker formulations, for toughened reaction-bonded Si[sub 3]N[sub 4] composites, was examined as a function of the binder system. The effect on whisker degradation and orientation was also studied.