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Chapter 2
Literature Review
Ceramic/silicon nitride bearing elements are an attractive design solution for high speed turbine, precision machine tools and various automotive applications. High demand of employing these elements in severe conditions of high contact stress, high temperature, high speed and restricted lubrication have put tremendous pressure on design engineers to evaluate the material and advise applicable design strategies, Khan et al.[1,2]. Leading technology, demands for high efficiency and importance of sustainable development have caused loading bearing contacts in all kinds of machinery to be subjected to high speeds, high contact stresses and severe conditions of lubrication, Khan et al.[1,2]. Silicon nitride Si3N4 bearing elements have shown practical advantages over traditional steel elements due to their mechanical and physical properties, Hadfield et al.3and Hadfield [4,5]. Engineering ceramics uniquely combine strength, strength retention at high temperature, hardness, dimensional stability, good corrosion resistance, low density, superior thermal shock resistance, high wear resistance, and fracture toughness, Bennewitz [6]. These excellent mechanical and tribological properties make them suitable candidate materials or various applications, ranging from cutting tools to nuclear reactors, Kanimoto et al.[7] and Kitamura et al.[8]. Typical applications are gas turbine bearings, I. C. Engine components, turbocharger rotors, seals, rocker arms, turbine blades. Compared with, other engineering ceramics, silicon nitride has superior mechanical and tribological properties, Hyuga et al.[5], Nakamura et al.[6,7], Xu et al.[8,9,10]. Silicon nitride and its composites have long been used for design and development of hybrid bearings, cutting tools, values, engine parts, turbine blades etc, Andersson et al.[11]. As the use of Si3N4 is increasing at rapid rate, various sintering methods have been used to improve microstructure, mechanical and tribological properties of Si3N4 ceramics Wani et al.12. In addition, composites of Si3N4 with BN, TiN and TiC; and also composites of nano-Si3N4 with Nano-BN have been developed to improve microstructure, mechanical and tribological properties of monolithic Si3N4, Xu et al.[13], Jones et al.[15], Hyuga et

Department Of Mechanical Engineering/NIT Srinagar

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al.[5,16] and Ullner et al.[17]. Mechanical and tribological properties, such as, hardness, strength and wear resistance of Si3N4 ceramics depend upon: (a) Sintering additives (b) Type of reinforcement (c) Sintering conditions (i.e. temperature, pressure etc.) used for fabrication of Si3N4 ceramics and its composites. Xu et al., Jones et al., Jones et al., Hyuga et al. and Ullner et al.[5,13,14,15,16]. Hardness plays a significant role, in increasing the wear resistance of Si3N4 ceramic, Rendtel et al.[17] Higher hardness means higher wear resistance and vice-versa. Hardness is crucial for cutting tools, wear and abrasion-resistant parts, prosthetic hip joint balls and sockets, optical lens glasses, ballistic armor, molds and dies, valves, and seals, Quinn and Swab [18]. Different techniques for measuring hardness of ceramics have been used, Sun et al.[19]. However, micro hardness technique for measuring the hardness of ceramics has shown promising results Rendtel et al., Quinn, Swab and Sun et al.[17,18,19]. In order to understand the influence of
sintering additives and the composites on hardness values and wear resistance, it is essential to measure hardness of Si3N4 ceramics and its composites. Micro hardness research studies on three advanced ceramic materials Si3N4, SiC, Al2O3 have been carried out. In this research study, three different indentation techniques Vickers, Knoop and Rockwell have been used, to evaluate the hardness of these three ceramics. It was observed that there is no significant difference between the abilities of these hardness techniques. Influence of BN

particulate on microstructure and mechanical properties of Si3N4 has been studied. In this research study, it was observed that the particulate of BN reinforced into the Si3N4 improves tribological properties of Si3N4. Silicon nitride composite of SiC has been developed to study the influence of reinforcement on the properties of monolithic Si3N4, Blugan et al.[20]. Researchers observed that inter-granular SiC Nano- particles hinder the Si3N4 grain growth and thus change the chemical composition of grain boundary phase. Mechanical properties of Si3N4/C fibre composite have been carried to study the influence of C reinforcement on the properties of monolithic Si3N4, Blugan et al.[20],Hadad et al.[21]. In this research study, it has been observed that the strength and toughness of the composite is higher comparing to monolithic Si3N4. Multilayered Department Of Mechanical Engineering/NIT Srinagar

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laminates of Si3N4 TiN have been used to develop the Si3N4 / TiN composite Bai et al.[22]. Friction and wear study results have shown that wear resistance of laminates remain unchanged, however, fracture toughness of laminates is higher than that of Si3N4 composite. Recently, Nano-silicon nitride composites of BN have been developed for self lubrication of Si3N4 / Si3N4 tribopair, Xu et al. and Wani [23]. In this research study, microhardness tests on Si3N4 ceramics and its composites have been carried out, to study influence of sintering additives and reinforcement on Vickers and Knoop hardness values of silicon nitride ceramics. In addition, fracture toughness of these ceramic materials has also been evaluated, based on Vickers indentation method. Sialon ceramics, in comparison with Si3N4 ceramics, have better high-temperature properties and higher hardness due to the smaller amount of intergranular glassy phase. Seock-Sam Kima, Young-Hun Chae and Dae-Jung Kim[24] suggested The friction coefficient of silicon nitride was more substantially influenced by the normal load than by elevated temperatures, plus the friction coefficient of silicon nitride increased upon decreasing in the normal load. The specific wear rate was found to decrease relative to a decrease in the sliding distance, and the specific wear rate at 29.4 N and 1000C was 292 times larger than that at room temperature. The main wear mechanism from room temperature to 750C was caused by brittle fracture, whereas from 750 to 1000C the main mechanism was highly influenced by the oxidation of silicon nitride due to the increased temperature. Accordingly, the oxidation of silicon nitride at high temperatures is an important factor in wear increase. Tomizawa and Fischer [25] observed the very low friction coefficient, (< 0.002) of Si3N4 in water. J.R. Gomes , F.J. Oliveira [26] state that The tribological response of Si N -based materials as 3 4 self-mated pairs or as dissimilar couples with metals has been intensively investigated in a wide range of experimental conditions like speed, load, temperature, lubrication, and humidity. However, only a few published papers related intrinsic characteristics such as ceramic composition, grain size and morphology, amount and nature of intergranular phase and porosity, with the wear behavior. Then, optimization of the tribological properties regarding micro structural design is still a matter of research. Studies on the influence of humidity and sliding speed on the Si N tribological properties have shown an intricate dependence on these variables. Wear coefficients were slightly higher in dry conditions (K = 2.510-4 mm3 N-1 m-1) than in humid environments (K=110-4 mm3 N-1 m-1) at very low sliding speeds( v= 1 10-3ms-1) but Department Of Mechanical Engineering/NIT Srinagar

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the opposite tendency was observed at intermediate speeds (v= 0.1 ms-1 ), followed again by a return to the initial trend at higher speeds (v= 0.5 ms-1) .In dry conditions, a minimum of wear rate (K= 110-6 mm3 N-1 m-1) occurs at intermediate speeds (v= 0.044 ms-1). In contrast, in the presence of humidity, a maximum value of (K= 710-4 mm3 N-1 m-1) was reported in this speed range. The authors related this complex dependence with the existence of intermediate layers at the wear interface. A micro fracture mechanism was predominant in dry conditions, while tribochemical reactions with formation of hydrated silica or silicates dictated the tribological response in humid environments. Branko Matovic.[27] states that silicon nitride ceramics are the most promising material for engine components due to high strength and high fracture toughness. Typically Si3N4 is densified by employing various mixtures of additives that, in combination with the surface SiO2 on the silicon nitride particles, results in the densification and phase transformation. The liquid phases formed during densification provide a media for the growth of prism-shaped -Si3N4 grains. These elongated grains, in turn, act as a reinforcing phase that promotes crack bridging processes and toughens the ceramics, contrary to -Si3N4 which usually has equiaxed grain morphology and as a consequence poor toughness. On the other side, -structure had much higher hardness (Vickers micro hardness) than the -structure and that is why - to -Si3N4 transformation during the liquid phase sintering leads to decreasing of hardness of ceramic materials. These facts are the reason why it is very important to control the microstructure that is able to maintain high hardness and at the same time to increase fracture toughness. There is nowadays ongoing searching for production processes on the basis of low-cost Si3N4 powder as well as sintering additives that are equally inexpensive and enable low sintering temperatures.

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