Elasticity and inelasticity of silicon nitride/boron nitride fibrous monoliths

A study is reported on the effect of temperature and elastic vibration amplitude on Young’s modulus E and internal friction in Si₃N₄ and BN ceramic samples and Si₃N₄/BN monoliths obtained by hot pressing of BN-coated Si₃N₄ fibers. The fibers were arranged along, across, or both along and across the specimen axis. The E measurements were carried out under thermal cycling within the 20–600°C range. It was found that high-modulus silicon-nitride specimens possess a high thermal stability; the E(T) dependences obtained under heating and cooling coincide well with one another. The low-modulus BN ceramic exhibits a considerable hysteresis, thus indicating evolution of the defect structure under the action of thermoelastic (internal) stresses. Monoliths demonstrate a qualitatively similar behavior (with hysteresis). This behavior of the elastic modulus is possible under microplastic deformation initiated by internal stresses. The presence of microplastic shear in all the materials studied is supported by the character of the amplitude dependences of internal friction and the Young’s modulus. The experimental data obtained are discussed in terms of a model in which the temperature dependences of the elastic modulus and their features are accounted for by both microplastic deformation and nonlinear lattice-atom vibrations, which depend on internal stresses.