Thermal Conductivity and Microstructure Properties of Porous SiC Ceramic Derived from Silicon Carbide Powder

Abstract

Porous SiC ceramic were prepared with silicon carbide powder as the aggregate, silicone resin as the binder and pore agent by the process of mixing, iso-static pressure molding, and calcination. The mechanical properties and microstructures of the samples were characterized with a universal testing machine, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, and mercury injection. Two main factors, molding pressures and silicone resin mass ratio were studied in the experiments. The thermal conductivity of the samples was tested. The compressive strength was up to 19.4 MPa, and the porosities up to 30%. The thermal conductivities, mainly influenced by porosities, increased from 0.68 W.m-1.K-1 to 1.03 W.m-1.K-1 with the porosity decreasing from 41.96% to 31.30%.