Analysis of the effective thermoelastic properties and stress fields in silicon nitride based on EBSD data

The present work focuses on the determination of the effective thermoelastic properties and the statistical characterization of stress fluctuations in silicon nitride's local phases. For that purpose, full field finite element solutions have been considered, based on 3D electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) data of silicon nitride. A second-order mean field homogenization scheme, consisting in Hashin–Shtrikman bounds, has been also considered. Ab-initio simulations have been performed in order to determine the temperature-dependent elastic properties of the local phases. The isotropic material microstructure has been checked based on both experimental results and full field solutions. The effective thermoelastic properties have been assessed with the newly obtained experimental results. The stress fluctuations within silicon nitride's local phases have been examined under mechanical and thermal loadings. It has been shown that the amorphous phase is the most vulnerable to fracture and to micro-cracks initiation.