Tailoring of Mechanical Properties of Si3N4 Ceramics

I. Processing and Densification.- Colloidal Processing of Structurally Reliable Si3N4.- Silicon Nitride Materials for Engine Applications.- High Temperature Resistant Silicon-Nitride Ceramics by Optimized Two-Step Gas Pressure Sintering.- II. Microstructure — Development, Characterization and Influence on Mechanical Properties.- Analysis of Microstructural Development and Mechanical Properties of Si3N4 Ceramics.- 3D — Characterization of Sintered Microstructures with Prismatic Grains — A Precondition for Microstructural Modelling of Si3N4 Ceramics.- Microstructural Contributions to the Fracture Resistance of Silicon Nitride Ceramics.- Improvement of Strength and Toughness of Silicon Nitride Ceramics.- III. Phase Diagrams and SiAlON Composites.- Calculation of Phase Diagrams of Multicomponent Systems.- ??? SiAlON Transformation.- High Performance Silicon Nitride Composite Ceramics Through Grain Boundary and Microstructural Tailoring.- SiAlON Composite Ceramics.- IV. Grain Boundary Phases: IV. 1. Properties of Oynitride Glasses.- Structure, Formation, and Stability of Oxynitride Glasses.- Rheological Behavior of YSiAlON Glasses — Its Incidence on the High-Temperature Deformation of Si3N4 Ceramics Sintered with Al2O3 and Y2O3 Additives.- Devitrification Behavior of Oxynitride Glasses.- IV. Grain Boundary Phases: IV.2. Devitrification in Silicon Nitride Ceramics.- Crystallization of the Nanophase in Silicon Nitrides.- Crystallization of Grain Boundary Phases in Silicon Nitride and SiAlON Ceramics.- High — Temperature Properties of Yb — Containing Si3N4.- Processing, Phase Formation and Creep Behavior of Si3N4 with Y2O3 and Al2O3.- IV. Grain Boundary Phases: IV.3. Analysis and Characterization of Intergranular Grain Boundary Films.- High Resolution ElectronMicroscopy Studies on Silicon Nitride Ceramics.- Compositions and Thicknesses of Grain Boundary Films in Ca-Doped Silicon Nitride Ceramics.- The Intergranular Film in Silicon Nitride Ceramics: A Diffuse Interface Approach.- V. High Temperature Properties.- Creep Damage Mechanisms in Si3N4.- Creep Mechanisms in Silicon Nitride Ceramics.- Tensile Creep Rupture and Subcritical Crack Growth of Silicon Nitride.- Internal Stresses in Silicon Nitride and Their Influence on Mechanical Behavior.- Cyclic Fatigue — Crack Growth in Si3N4-Ceramics.- Subcritical Crack Growth of Si3N4 under Thermal Loading by Light Irradiation.- Subcritical Crack Growth Resistance in Silicon Nitride Ceramics.- VI. Mechanical Performance and Applications.- Fracture Behavior of Silicon Nitride at Elevated Temperatures.- Mechanical Performance of a Commercial Silicon Nitride Pre-Exposed to a Sulphidizing Atmosphere at High Temperature.- Ceramics for Engines.- Fabrication and High Temperature Properties of Silicon Nitride Ceramics with Transition Metal Suicides Dispersion.- Author Index.