For the samples sintered at 1400 C, polished surface was
observed by BSE, as shown in Fig. 2(a). The coarse silicon carbide
particles were surrounded by the melted bentonite, and the coating
layer was about 10 mm thick. The neighbored two particles were
joined together by the melted bentonite. The pores formed in the
places where the gap between the two particles was large. The
composition of the melted phase was detected by EDS, as shown
in Fig. 2(b).