Effect of Silicon Carbide Whiskers on the Physicomechanical Properties of ZrB2/SiC Ceramic Composite Materials

ZrB2/(20 – х)SiC/хSiCw (х = 0.5–1.5 vol %) ceramic composite materials have been produced by spark plasma sintering, and their physicomechanical and thermophysical properties have been shown to be influenced by the percentage of the silicon carbide whiskers. The best properties are offered by the ZrB2/SiC ceramic composite material containing 0.5 vol % silicon carbide whiskers. The addition of silicon carbide whiskers has been shown to ensure an increase in apparent density to 99.7% and a reduction in open porosity to 0.13%. Moreover, it increases the microhardness of the composites to 16.4 GPa, their critical stress intensity factor to 5.7 MPa m1/2, and their bending strength to 580 MPa.