Young's modulus and vibrational damping of sintered silicon carbide ceramics at high temperatures

The Young's modulus and vibrational damping behaviors of a sintered silicon carbide (SiC) were investigated. The materials were fabricated by the pressureless sintering of alpha SiC powders with boron carbide or aluminum carbide as sintering aids. The dynamic Young's modulus and vibrational damping were measured as a function of temperature. Vickers hardness test was carried out to measure the microhardness of each specimen. The Granato-Lucke analysis of the damping data at room temperature yielded a dislocation density of 5×108 m-2 and a minor pinning length of 52 nm.