Combustion Synthesis of Silicon Carbide

Combustion synthesis (CS) is an effective technique to produce a wide variety of advanced materials that include powders and net shape products of ceramics, intermetallics, composites and functionally graded materials. This method was discovered in the beginning of 1970's in the former Soviet Union (Merzhanov & Borovinskaya, 1972), and the development of this technique has led to the appearance of a new material science related scientific direction. There are two modes by which combustion synthesis can occur: self propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) and volume combustion synthesis (VCS). A schematic diagram of these modes is shown in Figure 1. In both cases, reactants may be in the form of loose powder mixture or be pressed into a pellet. The samples are then heated by an external source (e.g. tungsten coil, laser) either locally (SHS) or uniformly (VCS) to initiate an exothermic reaction.