There are provided a lead- and potassium-free piezoelectric material that has a high Curie temperature and a high mechanical quality factor and is stable in long-term driving and a piezoelectric element including the lead- and potassium-free piezoelectric material. A piezoelectric material containing a perovskite-type metal oxide having the general formula (1): Na.sub.xBa.sub.1-yNb.sub.yZr.sub.1-yO.sub.3 wherein x satisfies 0.85x0.96 and y satisfies 0.90y0.96 and a piezoelectric element including the piezoelectric material. The piezoelectric material may include the perovskite-type metal oxide and Cu, and the Cu content corresponds to 2.00 mol % or less of the amount of the perovskite-type metal oxide.

The present invention provides a high thermal conductive silicon nitride sintered body having a thermal conductivity of 50 W/m.Math.K or more and a three-point bending strength of 600 MPa or more, wherein when an arbitrary cross section of the silicon nitride sintered body is subjected to XRD analysis and highest peak intensities detected at diffraction angles of 29.30.2, 29.70.2, 27.00.2, and 36.10.2 are expressed as I.sub.29.3, I.sub.29.7, I.sub.27.0, and I.sub.36.1, a peak ratio (I.sub.29.3)/(I.sub.27.0+I.sub.36.1) satisfies a range of 0.01 to 0.08, and a peak ratio (I.sub.29.7)/(I.sub.27.0+I.sub.36.1) satisfies a range of 0.02 to 0.16. Due to above configuration, there can be provided a silicon nitride sintered body having a high thermal conductivity of 50 W/m.Math.K or more, and excellence in insulating properties and strength.

A refractory object may include a zircon body that may include at least about 0.1 wt. % and not greater than about 5.5 wt. % of an Al.sub.2O.sub.3 containing component for a total weight of the zircon body. The zircon body may further include at least about 25 wt. % and not greater than about 35 wt. % of a SiO.sub.2 component for a total weight of the zircon body.

A multilayer electronic component includes a body including a capacitance forming portion including a dielectric layer and internal electrodes, and first to sixth surfaces; external electrodes disposed on the third and fourth surfaces of the body, respectively; and side margin portions disposed on the fifth and sixth surfaces of the body, respectively, wherein a Ba/Ti molar ratio of the side margin portion satisfies greater than 1.025 and less than 1.035, and is higher than a Ba/Ti molar ratio of the capacitance forming portion, wherein the number of moles of Mg based on 100 moles of Ti included in the side margin portion is greater than 1.0 mole and less than 2.0 moles, and wherein the number of moles of Sn based on 100 moles of Ti included in the side margin portion is 0.01 moles or more and less than 5.0 moles.

A polycrystalline sintered ceramic material of very low electrical resistivity includes by mass more than 95% silicon carbide (SiC), less than 1.5% silicon in another form than SiC, less than 2.5% carbon in another form than SiC, less than 1% oxygen (O), less than 0.5% aluminum (Al), less than 0.5% of the elements Sc, Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb and Lu, less than 0.5% alkali elements, less than 0.5% alkaline earth, between 0.1 and 1.5% nitrogen (N), the other elements forming the complement to 100%, wherein the grains of the above material have a median equivalent diameter of between 0.5 and 5 micrometers, the mass ratio of SiC alpha (?)/SiC beta (?) is less than 0.1, and the total porosity represents less than 15% by volume of the material.

A method of forming a composite cutter for a downhole drilling tool is described. The method includes: mixing a polycrystalline diamond powder and a cubic boron nitride powder with a molar ratio between 0.1 and 0.9 to form a catalyst-free composite mixture; placing the catalyst-free composite mixture into a mold configured in a shape of a cutter; exposing the catalyst-free composite mixture to an ultra-high-pressure, high-temperature treatment including a pressure between 11 Gigapascals (GPa) and 20 GPa, and a temperature between 1300 Kelvins (K) and 2600 K to form a solid composite body; and cooling the solid composite body to form the composite cutter.

According to an embodiment, a highly thermally conductive silicon nitride sintered body includes silicon nitride crystal grains and a grain boundary phase. A thermal conductivity of the silicon nitride sintered body is not less than 80 W/(m.Math.K). An average value of solid solution oxygen amounts of the silicon nitride crystal grains existing in a 20 ?m?20 ?m unit area in any cross section is not more than 0.2 wt %. An average value of major diameters of the silicon nitride crystal grains existing in a 50 ?m?50 ?m unit area in any cross section is not less than 1 ?m and not more than 10 ?m. An average of aspect ratios of the silicon nitride crystal grains existing in the 50 ?m?50 ?m unit area is not less than 2 and not more than 10.

A ferrite sintered body comprising Co and Fe, wherein the Co is contained in an amount of from 38 mol % to 60 mol % in terms of CoO, the Fe is contained in an amount of from 40 mol % to 50 mol % in terms of Fe.sub.2O.sub.3, and the sintered body has an average particle size of from 1.0 ?m to 5.0 ?m.

A piezoelectric material composition may be represented by Equation 1,

[00001]$\begin{array}{cc}0.96\left({\mathrm{Na}}_a{K}_{1-a}\right)\left({\mathrm{Nb}}_b\left(T_{1-b}\right)\right)O_3-\left(0.04-x\right)M_A{M}_B{O}_3-x\left({\mathrm{Bi}}_c{\mathrm{Ag}}_{1-c}\right)M_B{O}_3+d\mathrm{mol}\%A& \left[\mathrm{Equation}1\right]\end{array}$ where T is Sb, Ta, or V, M.sub.A is Sr, Ba, or Ca, M.sub.B is Zr, Hf, Ti, or Sn, and A is Fe.sub.2O.sub.3, Co.sub.2O.sub.3, Mn.sub.2O.sub.3, ZnO, GeO.sub.2, CuO, or NiO, and 0.40?a?0.60, 0.90?b?1.00, 0.30?c?0.70, 0.00?x?0.04, and 0.00<d?1.00.

Various shaped abrasive particles are disclosed. Each shaped abrasive particle includes a body having at least one major surface and a side surface extending from the major surface.