Machining is a necessary post-processing step in the manufacturing of many ceramic materials. Parts are machined to meet specific dimensions, with tight tolerances, not attainable from forming alone, as well as to achieve a desired surface finish. However, the machining process is very harsh, often employing the use of high temperatures and pressures to achieve the wanted result. In the case of silicon carbide, a material with extremely high hardness and stiffness, machining is very difficult and requires machining conditions that are highly aggressive. This can leave behind residual stresses in the surface of the material, cause unwanted phase transformations, and produce sub-surface deformation that can lead to failure. This thesis seeks to determine the effect of various machining conditions on the Raman spectra and elastic properties of sintered silicon carbide materials. Sample sets examined included hot-pressed silicon carbide tiles with four different surface finishes, as well as "ideal" single crystal silicon carbide wafers. The surface finishes studied were as follows: an as-pressed finish; a grit blast finish; a harsh rotary ground finish; and a mirror polish. Each finish imparts a different amount, as well as type, of deformation to the sample and are each utilized for a specific application. The sample surfaces were evaluated using a combination of Raman spectroscopy, for phase identification and stress analysis, and nanoindentation, for obtaining elastic properties and imparting uniform controlled deformation to the samples. Raman spectroscopy was performed over each sample surface using 514- and 633-nm wavelength excitation, along with confocal and non-confocal settings to study depth variation. Surfaces stresses were determined using peak shift information extracted from Raman spectra maps, while other spectral variations were used to compare levels of machining damage. Elastic modulus, hardness, and plastic work of indentation maps were generated from load-depth curves obtained from nanoindentation with a Berkovich tip at 10mN and 30mN maximum loads. The Raman measurements were repeated on indented samples, over the indented regions. Stress-free single crystal silicon carbide wafers were used as a reference for both the Raman and nanoindentation measurements. The Raman analysis showed that stress gradients could be determined within each machined sample. Additionally, it revealed variations in the magnitude of residual stresses between machining conditions. No correlation was found between elastic properties of samples and Raman stress data. However, it was found that the 30mN indentation caused an increase in the near-surface average stress value for the mirror finish sample. The relative peak width also increased, indicating a plastic deformation resolvable by Raman.
Subject (authority = RUETD)
Topic
Materials Science and Engineering
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Rutgers University. Graduate School - New Brunswick
AssociatedObject
Type
License
Name
Author Agreement License
Detail
I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.