Experimental and Finite Element Study of the Thermal Conductivity of α-SiAlON Ceramics

The thermal conductivity of monolithic Y‐Sm/α‐SiAlON was evaluated using experimental data and finite element analysis. The thermal diffusivities of Y, Y‐Dy, and Y‐Ce/α‐SiAlON ceramics were also investigated experimentally for comparison. The maximum achievable thermal conductivity of Y‐Sm/α‐SiAlON has been calculated by the linear extrapolation of the temperature‐based experimental inverse diffusivity data and was used for the numerical calculations. Two‐dimensional model microstructures were built on the base of real microstructure images and applied for calculations. Experimental data and numerical calculations were compared for Y‐Sm/α‐SiAlON, and it was revealed that both results are in good agreement.