Microstructures and mechanical properties of SiBCNAl ceramics produced by mechanical alloying and subsequent hot pressing

Amorphous SiBCNAl powders were prepared via a mechanical alloying (MA) technique using crystalline silicon (Si), hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), graphite (C), and aluminum (Al) as starting materials. SiBCNAl powders were consolidated by a hot pressing (HP) technique at 1800 °C under a pressure of 30 MPa in argon and nitrogen. The sintering atmosphere had a great influence on the microstructures and mechanical properties of the ceramics. The two ceramics had different phase compositions and fracture surface morphologies. For the ceramics sintered in argon, flexural strength, fracture toughness, elastic modulus and Vickers hardness were 421.90 MPa, 3.40 MPa•m^1/2, 174.10 GPa, and 12.74 GPa, respectively. For the ceramics sintered in nitrogen, the mechanical properties increased, except for the Vickers hardness, and the values of the above properties were 526.80 MPa, 5.25 MPa•m^1/2, 222.10 GPa, and 11.63 GPa, respectively.