METHOD OF IMPROVING QUALITY OF HOT PRESSED Si3N4 BODIES

Abstract: Unpurified silicon powder and admixed oxygen carrying agents are compacted to form a preform. The preform is heated to agglomerate the mixture to an increased density no greater than 2.7 gm/cm<3>. The heat treated preform is immersed in one or more stages in one or more leaching solutions of effective concentration to remove selected impurities. The treated preform is then hot pressed to full density accompanied by a reduction of undesirable impurities, such as iron silicide, which conventionally form during hot pressing.

Description: METHOD OF IMPROVING QUALITY OF HOT PRESSED Si3 4 BODIES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Silicon metal powders, used as a starting material for manufacturing silicon nitride ceramics, typically contain impurities and/or contaminants (such as iron oxide, CaO, NiO, Crθ2, Mn, Li) that are useful and, in some cases, generally required to promote efficient nitriding. However, the presence of such impurities in the final ceramic product may be detrimental to the development of optimum physical properties. The impurities can produce random flaws which lower the strength of the material and other related properties. The impurities in the nitrided silicon nitride body typically comprise iron, iron oxide, free silicon, and unreacted Ϊ2°3' a -H °f which can form suicides, silicates, or other compounds detrimental to optimum physical properties. The presence of unreacted 2O3 is undesirable because it changes the desired γ 2°3/ s °2 rat i° an< 3 affects the distribution of 2°3 in the final hot pressed product. The formation of suicides from such impurities is particularly detrimental because during hot pressing Si3 4 is readily dissolved in the suicide solute and precipitates as large grained beta Si3N4 to define local pockets of suicide, large grains and porosity. These pockets are weak spots or flaws in the material when used as a cutting tool. This also produces a concentration of yttria which affects development of desirable oxynitrides as suitable crystalline binders. It would be desirable if some mode were available that obviated the need for purifying the starting materials and permitted the impurities to serve a useful function during nitriding and other related steps. Such mode would eliminate the impurities at a stage of the process so that they would not be present in the final c * ' ""■ fr .~ ~ . " - product after they have served their useful fabricating function. In this manner the impurities would not be available to promote oxidation or cracking in the final product. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention is a method of making a silicon nitride comprising object wherein (a) unpurified silicon powder and admixed oxygen carrying powder agents are compacted to form a preform, (b) the preform is heated to agglomerate the particles of the preform to form a billet (preferably the heating is in a nitrogen based atmosphere to at least partially chemically react the ingredients of the preform to form a silicon nitride based billet) with a density no greater than 2.7 gm/cm^ (82% of full theore- tical), (c) the heat treated preform is immersed in one or more stages in one or more leaching solutions of effective concentration to remove selected impurities, and (d) the leached preform is heated under heat fusing conditions to form a unitary, substantially fully dense, silicon nitride comprising object. It is advantageous to use a base solution to leach out free silicon and an acid solution to leach out Fe, Fe2θ3, and Siθ2« It is, of course, desirable that the base solution be used only after the preform has been fully nitrided. It is preferable if the silicon powder has a purity of at least 97%, preferably above 98%. The oxygen carrying agents are selected from the group consisting of Siθ2, *2°3' A1 2°3' M 9°' ^2°3 r Zrθ2, Hfθ2, and other real earth oxides. It is preferable to use 2O3 and AI2O3, each having a respective purity of greater than 99.99% and 99.5%. Trace metals contained in 2O3 include Ca, Cr, Fe, Mn, and rare earths. Impurities in the AI2O3 usually are Siθ2, Fe2θ3, and a2θ. The trace metals and Fe2θ3 all serve as nitriding aids because they tend to break up the oxide film covering silicon powder during nitriding. The Siθ2 impurity is helpful to obtain the right nitrided phases. Advantageously, impurity removal is carried out after full nitriding, although it can be carried out on the preform after partial nitriding or presintering, as long as either the preform or the billet has a density no greater than 82% of full theoretical (2.7 g /cm^). The preferred leaching solution is an aqueous solution of hydrochloric acid in a concentration of 7 molar. However, a second aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide, KOH, or its equivalent, in a concentration of 5 molar, may separately and additionally be employed to remove other selected impurities such as free silicon. The leaching solutions are used at a temperature usually at room. conditions, and the billet or preform is immersed therein for a period of preferably 6-48 hours or preferably in accordance with a visual test determined by the degree of yellow color attained in the solution (FeCl). It is important to point out that after each leaching immersion, the billet or preform is preferably rinsed in deionized water for a few minutes to remove reaction ions. For acids, a silver nitrate test may be employed to inspect the preform or billet to determine the degree of removal of residual ions. Other known tests may be employed for the reaction products of the base solution. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a photograph of a portion of a hot pressed silicon nitride billet in accordance with the previous art (at 1000 X magnification) showing a large flaw comprised of iron suicide; Figure 2 is a photograph of a portion of a cut surface of a silicon nitride billet (at 3000 X magnifica¬ tion) made from the material of Figure 1 showing the space left by the dislodgement of a ' iron suicide pocket and exposing extra large grains of beta silicon nitride associated with the suicide during crystallization. DETAILED DESCRIPTION A preferred method for carrying out the invention herein is as follows. 1. A preform of starting ingredients is formed by compacting a mixture of silicon powder carrying silicon oxide as a surface coating thereon, and oxygen carrying powder agents selected from the group consisting of Siθ2, Y2O3, AI2O3, MgO, Ce2θ3, Zrθ2, Hfθ2, and other rare earth oxides. Reactive oxygen carrying agents is defined herein to mean ingredients that are effective to form second phase crystallites, particularly oxynitrides, when reacted with the silicon powder under a heated nitrogen atmosphere. Use of these agents will improve physical characteristics and formation of a second phase crystallite which (a) will uniformly be dispersed, and (b) substantially displace the detrimental glassy silicate phase normally formed except for a controlled and limited amount of the latter. For purposes of the preferred method, a uniform powder mixture is prepared with 2000 grams of silicon (86.6 weight percent of mixture), 278 grams Ϊ2°3 (12 weight percent of mixture and 13.9% of silicon), and 32 grams AI2O3 (1.4 weight percent of mixture and 1.6% of silicon). γ 2°3 i s normally used in the range of 3-19% by weight of the silicon. The oxygen carrying agent, such as AI2O3, is used in the range of .4-5% by weight of the silicon. Siθ2 is present usually as an oxide on the silicon powder and increased to 1-3% by weight of the silicon by milling. The silicon powder is preferably selected to have 98% or greater purity and a starting average particle size of 8-9.2 microns. The major trace metal contaminants experienced with such impurity include, as maximums: iron up to 1.0%, aluminum up to .5%, and manganese up to .09%. Nonmetallic contaminants include, as maximums: carbon up to .05% and oxygen less than .5%. The Ϊ2°3 powder is selected to have a purity of at least 99.99% with an average o crystallite size of .0438 microns (438A). Alumina is selected to have a purity of at least 99.5% with an average particle size of .3-.5 microns. The yttria typically carries trace contaminants of Ca (3.4 ppm), Cr (<10 ppm), Fe (0.2 ppm), Mn (<6 ppm), and other rare earths. Alumina typically carries, as maximums: Siθ2 (.07% by weight), Fe2θ3 (.03%), and Na2θ (.08%). The mixture is comminuted and blended by being charged into an inert milling jar along with grinding media in the form of Burundum cylinders (85% AI2O3, 11% Siθ2, 2% MgO, 1.2% CaO, and less than .1% of [Tiθ2, Fβ2θ3, Na2θ] ) . The milling media adds AI2O3 to the mixture by attrition. The mixture is milled for 48 hours at 64 rpm, and then separated from the media by use of a #10 mesh screen. The milling is preferably dry to eliminate further introduction of impurities. The oxygen carrying agents must be in the reactive form with a high surface area and small crystal¬ line size. The resulting milled mixture will have at least 50% by volume with an average particle size of about 3 microns, and 90% with an average particle size of at least 23 microns. The surface oxide level after milling (Siθ2) will be increased to 1.6% by weight of the silicon and be present as an oxide coating in an amount of 3.0 weight percent. The oxide coating should never be stripped off. Preferably, the Y2θ3/Siθ2 ratio is controlled to be in the range of 1.1-6.4 and optimally about 4. A measured quantity of milled mixture is loaded into a cold pressed die arrangement and pressed at ambient conditions by use of 1400-1500 psi to form a preform of a size of about 6" by .6" and a density of 1.5-2.7 gm/cm 3 . The density is typically in the range of 42-82% of full - theoretical and optimally around 60-65% of theoretical. 2. Heating to Nitride The preform is heated in a nitriding atmosphere, without the use of pressure normally associated with hot pressing, to produce a silicon nitride comprising body consisting of Si3N4, at least one dispersed second phase crystallite, .2-1% silicate, and up to 1.0% by weight of free silicon and unreacted oxygen carrying agents, such as 2O3 and AI2O3. The body will have a size greater than and a density less than the ultimate object to be formed. To carry out heating to nitride, the preform is placed in an enclosed furnace, preferably evacuated to a pressure of less than 1 micron, and heated at a fast rate, i.e., 500°F/hr. (278°C/hr.) to 1200°F (649°C). The furnace is then filled with a gaseous mixture consisting of 72% by volume nitrogen, 3% hydrogen, and 25% helium, at a pressure of about 2.7 psig. The total O2 and H2O content in such gaseous mixture is less than 4 ppm. The temperature of the furnace is then increased in steps to a nitriding tempera¬ ture of 200-2600°F (1093-1427°C). Fresh nitrogen is intermittently supplied to the furnace to replace the nitrogen consumed in forming Si3 and the oxynitrides. The nitrided object is then cooled to room temperature at a rate of about 250°F/hr. (56°C/hr.). The nitrided body will preferably consist of silicon nitride (at least 60% of which is in the alpha form), 3-15% silicon oxynitride in the Y Siθ2N phase, and the remainder essentially a silicate glass (which may be theorized to be YιSiθ2). There can be present up to 1.0% free silicon and unreacted 2°3, a d suicides, such as iron suicide, in an amount present in the starting powder. 3. Leaching The nitrided billet for preform is immersed in one or more stages in one or more leaching solutions of effective concentration to remove selected impurities. Preferably, the primary leaching solution is an aqueous solution of hydrochloric acid in a concentration of 3-10 molar percent. Alternative leaching acids may comprise sulfuric acid, acetic acid, nitric acid, and oxalic acid. These acids are effective to dissolve suicides such as Cr2Si3, but not iron suicide per se. The acids do dissolve iron, iron oxide and unreacted Y2O3 which can form iron suicide during hot pressing, a time when the greatest quantities of iron suicides are formed. The billet or preform may additionally and advantageously be immersed in a basic solution containing sodium hydroxide in a concentration of 5 molar which is effective to remove free silicon. The billet or preform should be maintained in an immersed condition within said solutions for a period of 6-48 hours or by noting the color of the leaching solution. When it reaches a predetermined degree of yellow, for example, in connection with hydrochloric acid, the leaching effect has progressed to a satisfactory degree. Other methods by which the material can be tested to determine if leaching has proceeded to a satisfactory degree, and has subtracted the necessary amount of impurities, include: spectrophotometric techniques, plasma emission spec- trometry, and atomic absorption spectrometry. 4. Heat Fusing The nitrided body is then heated to heat fusing conditions to form a unitary, substantially fully dense, silicon nitride comprising object. Preferably, the nitrided body is hot pressed to produce such an object. A pressing fixture having graphite walls is used to carry out hot pressing. The walls and nitrided body are both coated with a slurry of boron nitride and dried. The pressing fixture with the nitrided body therein is placed in the hot pressing furnace. The heating and pressing is carried out preferably in increments: (1) a mechanical loading of 100 psi is applied at room temperature to the body; (2) the temperature is increased to 1800°F (982°C) and the pressure increased to 500 psi; (3) the temperature is then increased to 2500°F (1391°C) and pressure simultaneously increased to 2500 psi; (4) the temperature is finally increased to the hot pressing temperature of 3000°F (1649°C) and pressure increased to 3700 psi, the latter conditions being main¬ tained until at least 99% or desirably 99.5% of theoretical full density is achieved. This usually requires .25-3.0 hours at the hot pressing temperature. The object is then cooled at any rate, even quenched, to room temperature. The resulting object will consist essentially of beta silicon nitride, 1-7.5% by weight silicon oxynitrides (predominantly ιSiθ2N) enveloped by silicate phase having a thickness of 8-10 angstroms and having no microporosity. The object preferably possesses a hardness of 88.5-92.0 on the 45-N scale, a density of 3.2-3.35 grams/cm 3 , a fracture strength of about 85,000 psi at 1200°C in a four-point bend test and an oxidation resistance that prevents weight pickup by the object after 450 hours in air at 1000°C. The object will notably be characterized by the absence of large beta silicon nitride and concentrations of unreacted γ 2°3- Examples A series of cutting tools samples were prepared and tested to determine physical parameters and machining performance and to illustrate how the use of the leaching step along with the starting ingredients in an unpurified form achieved successful improvement in certain physical characteristics of the material, particularly the modulus of rupture. Sample bars of the ceramic were made using the composition and processing of the preferred mode. The material was nitrided to a density of 2.2 gm/cm 3 prior to leaching in the two sequential solutions. The results show that for conventional unpurified starting materials, which G PI are not leached during processing, the resulting product will have a hardness of 90 (on 45-N scale), a modulus of rupture of 90 ksi. When the same material was subjected to leaching in accordance with the preferred mode, the hardness increased to 92 and the modulus of rupture increased to 115-140 ksi. The leached material had greater structural integrity for use as a cutting tool.

Claims: We claim: 1. A method of making a silicon nitride comprising object, comprising: (a) forming a preform by compacting a mixture of unpurified silicon powder and oxygen carrying agents; (b) heating the preform to agglomerate the mixture to an increased density no greater than 2.7 gm/cm 3 ; (c) immersing said heat treated preform in one or more stages in one .or more leaching solutions of effective concentration to remove selected impurities; and (d) heating said treated preform to a heat fusing condition to form a unitary, substantially fully dense, silicon nitride comprising object. 2. The method as in Claim 1, in which said agglomeration of step (b) is carried out by heating in a nitrogen based atmosphere to react the ingredients thereof to form a nitrided billet. 3. The method as in Claim 2, in which said billet containing unreacted silicon and iron as impurities and said leaching solutions are effective to remove said impurities. 4. The method as in Claim 1, in which said density of said preform is in the range of 50-72% of full theoretical. 5. The method as in Claim 1, in which said oxygen carrying agents are selected from the group consisting of Y2O3, AI2O3, Siθ2. gO, Ce2θ3, Zrθ2, Hfθ2r and other rare earths. 6. The method as in Claim 1, in which at least one of said leaching solutions is an aqueous solution of hydrochloric acid. 7. The method as in Claim 6, in which the concentration of hydrochloric acid in said solution is in the range of 3-10 molar percent. 8. The method as in Claim 1, in which said leaching solutions are selected from the group consisting of aqueous solutions of hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, ascetic acid, oxalic acid, nitric acid, and sodium hydroxide. 9. The method as in Claim 6, in which a second solution is additionally and separately employed containing sodium hydroxide in a concentration of 5 molar. 10. The method as in Claim 6, in which the period of immersion in said leaching solution is for 6-48 hours. 11. The method as in Claim 6, in which the immersion period in said leaching solution is determined by the attainment of a predetermined degree of color in said solution. 12. In a method of making a heat fused silicon nitride product wherein (i) a powder mixture of unpurified silicon and oxygen carrying agents is compacted, (ii) the compact is heated in a nitrogen based atmosphere to react the ingredients of said compact to form a silicon nitride comprising billet having a density of up to 1.4 gm/cm 3 , and (iii) heating the billet to a temperature to heat fuse the particles of said billet to form a product having a density of no greater than 2.7 gm/cm 3 , the improvement comprising immersing said billet or compact in one or more leaching solutions prior to step (iii), said immersion in said leaching solutions being for a period of time sufficient to dissolve and separate out impurities present in said billet or compact.

Inventors: BECKWITH ELAINE C, EZIS ANDRE, BECKWITH, ELAINE, C., EZIS, ANDRE
Applicants: FORD MOTOR CO, FORD WERKE AG, FORD MOTOR COMPANY, FORD MOTOR COMPANY LIMITED, FORD-WERKE AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
Application year: 1982
Main classification: C04B35
IPC codes: C04B35, C04B38