Zara Bahararjmand - Department of Biophysics, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Istanbul, Turkey
Mohammad A Khalilzadeh - Department of Forest Biomaterials, College of Natural Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, ۲۷۶۹۵-۸۰۰۵, United States
Farshad Saberi-Movahed - Department of Materials Science and Engineering٫ North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, ۲۷۶۹۵-۸۰۰۵, United States
Tae Hyung Lee - Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Research Institute of Advanced Materials, Seoul National University, Seoul ۰۸۸۲۶, Republic of Korea
Jinghan Wang - Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Research Institute of Advanced Materials, Seoul National University, Seoul ۰۸۸۲۶, Republic of Korea
Sea-Hoon Lee - Division of Powder/Ceramics Research, Korea Institute of Materials Science, Changwon, ۵۱۵۰۸, Republic of Korea

The impact of Si۳N۴ content on the hardness and microstructural developments of ZrB۲-SiC material has been investigated thoroughly in the present investigation. Having prepared the raw materials in a jar mill, the ZrB۲-SiC samples containing various amounts of Si۳N۴ were hot-pressed at ۱۸۵۰ °C. Furthermore, XRD, FESEM, and HRTEM were utilized to evaluate the microstructure of samples. The formation of in-situ h-BN was proved by the mentioned methods. Also, it was shown that the Vickers hardness of ZrB۲-SiC increases up to ۲۰ GPa in presence of ۴.۵ wt% Si۳N۴ which is ۳ GPa more than the sample without Si۳N۴. Results show that the positive effect of increased relative density on hardness is more than the negative effect of h-BN soft phase formation.

Hot-pressing, ZrB۲-SiC-Si۳N۴, Microstructure, Hardness