The relationship between microstructure and flexural strength of pressureless liquid phase sintered SiC ceramics oxidized at elevated temperatures

The oxidation behavior of pressureless liquid phase sintered SiC ceramics with Al2O3 and Y2O3 as sintering additives was investigated in the temperature range from 1000 °C to 1600 °C at the interval of 100 °C for 5 h. The relationship between residual flexural strength and microstructure was analyzed in detail. It was found that the SiC specimens suffered from mild oxidation below 1300 °C. The flexural strength of SiC specimens after oxidation at 1100 °C was the highest (90% of the original strength) due to the formation of dendritic grains, which filled pores and healed cracks. And the flexural strength was almost above 80% of the original flexural strength when the oxidation temperature was below 1300 °C. Meanwhile, the weight of specimens underwent steady increase. However, when the oxidation temperature was elevated to above 1400 °C, the specimens began to suffer from severe oxidation, which resulted in a lot of through pores and cracks on the surface, bringing about the sharp decrease of flexural strength to 30% of original strength when the oxidation temperature of 1600 °C was reached. And the weight of the specimens after huge increase began to show downtrend when the oxidation temperature was elevated to 1600 °C due to the spalling of oxidation products.