Indentation and contact damages on grain boundary controlled silicon carbide ceramics

Excerpt

Silicon carbide (SiC) ceramics have been studied with particular interest for engineering applications that require high wear resistance [1‐4]. The high hardness of SiC ceramics is accompanied by wear, erosion, and mechanical fatigue resistance. Considerable resistance in corrosive environments such as plasma-enhanced environments is required for hard SiC ceramics in the semiconductor industry. In these materials, mechanical contact is one of the important considerations in the lifetimes of components [5, 6]. The surfaces of the material can be subjected to contact loads ranging, from single to multiple concentrated loads. Thus, reduced sensitivity against the damages—“flaw tolerance” or “damage tolerance”—is required to prolong the lifetimes of the components in service [7‐10]. …