Effect of ceramic particle size and applied pressure on time to complete infiltration of liquid aluminium into SiC powder compacts

Monitoring of pressurized advance of liquid aluminium into SiC particle compacts of mean particle sizes 12.8, 22.8 and 36.7 μm was carried out under applied pressures of 400 to 900 kPa. Infiltration time of liquid aluminium in the compact was recorded by computer logging the output from pairs of open ended wires with a potential difference between them. Results showed that time necessary to complete infiltration in the compacts decreased with increasing particle size and increasing applied pressure. Experimental results are in reasonably good agreement with model predictions.