The effect of polysiloxane on the properties of Al2O3-NbC composite material produced by pyrolysis process

Recently, studies have been developed in order to obtain Al2O3-NbC composite materials. The reinforced materials have shown good potential to be used as cutting tool materials at high-speed cutting and high temperature as a substitute to WC-Co material. The main disadvantage to produce these alumina-reinforced materials is the necessity to use pressure assisted sintering or high sintering temperatures to produce dense bodies. Manufacturing of composite ceramic materials derived from polymer reactive filler has been intensively investigated. Polymer pyrolysis is a relatively new and very promising method for obtaining ceramic material in complex shapes and lower sintering temperatures. This work investigated a ceramic composite matrix based in SiCxOy and Al2O3 and reinforced with NbC obtained by means of the active fillers pyrolysis process. The results obtained in this work demonstrate that using a mixture of polysiloxanes produces a composite material with better properties when compared to others polymer materials.