Slip casting of Al2O3 and Al2O3/ZrO2 composites

Al₂O₃ and Al₂O₃/ZrO₂ composites have been fabricated by slip casting from aqueous suspensions. The physical and structural characteristics of the starting powders, composition of the suspensions, casting behaviour, microstructure of the green and fired bodies and the mechanical properties of the products were investigated. The addition of ZrO₂ to Al₂O₃ leads to a significant increase in fracture toughness when ZrO₂ particles are retained in the tetragonal form (transformation-toughening mechanism) but when microcracking (due to the spontaneous transformation of ZrO₂ from the tetragonal phase to the monoclinic one) is dominant, an excellent toughness value is accompanied by a drastic drop in strength and hardness.     

Crack growth resistance (R-curve) behaviour and thermo-physical properties of Al2O3 particle-reinforced AlN/Al matrix composites

Crack growth resistance behaviour and thermo-physical properties of Al₂O₃ particle-reinforced AlN/Al matrix composites have been studied as a function of AlN volume fraction as well as Al₂O₃ particle size. The fracture toughness of the composites decreased with increase in vol% AlN and decrease in Al₂O₃ particle size. All the composites exhibited R-curve behaviour which has been attributed to crack bridging by the intact metal ligaments behind the crack tip. The Young’s modulus of the composites increased with the vol% of AlN whereas the thermal diffusivity and coefficient of thermal expansion followed a reverse trend. The composites exhibited hysteresis in thermal expansion as a function of temperature and the hysteresis decreased with decrease in metal content of the composite.     

Temperature dependence of flexural strength and microstructure of Al2O3/Y3Al5O12/ZrO2 ternary melt growth composites

New Al₂O₃/Y₃Al₅O₁₂(YAG)/ZrO₂ ternary Melt Growth Composites (MGCs) with a novel microstructure have been fabricated by unidirectional solidification. These MGCs displayed superior high-temperature strength characteristics. The flexural strength increases progressively in the range 650–800 MPa with a rise in temperature from room temperature up to 1873 K. These excellent high-temperature characteristics are closely linked to such factors as: a microstructure consisting of three-dimensionally continuous and complexly entangled single-crystal Al₂O₃ with a hexagonal structure, single-crystal YAG with a garnet structure and fine ZrO₂ with a cubic structure; characteristic dimensions of the microstructure of Al₂O₃/YAG/ZrO₂ ternary eutectic ceramics of around 2–3 m for YAG, around 2–3 m for Al₂O₃ and around 0.4–0.8 m for ZrO₂; and the fact that no amorphous phase is formed at interfaces between any of the phases.     

Multiple-toughening behaviour in SiC platelet-reinforced TZP/Al2O3 ceramic composites

Abstracts are not published in this journal This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Multiple-toughening behaviour in SiC platelet-reinforced TZP/Al2O3 ceramic composites

Abstracts are not published in this journal     

Fabrication of Al/Al2O3 composites and FGM

Al/Al2O3 composites of different ratios were hot-press sintered at 575 similar to 640℃ under a pressure of 30 MPa for 2 h in a vacuum furnace. It was found that the relative density of the Al/Al2O3 composites could be increased evidently with the rise of sinter temperature. No reaction occurred between Al and Al2O3 at the sinter temperatures. Under 640℃-30 MPa-2 h experimental condition, Al/Al2O3 system FGM was successfully fabricated, and its density range changed quasi-continuously from 2.887x10(3) kg/m(3) to 3.1909x10(3) kg/m3 within the middle 1.0 mm thickness range.     

Oxidation kinetics of metallic inclusions in a composite with an Al2O3‐ZrO2 matrix

Many studies have been conducted to obtain toughness in ceramic‐ceramic and metal‐ceramic composites, using new processing techniques or by addition of metallic inclusions in the ceramic matrix. The oxidation behavior of metallic inclusions, niobium and nickel metallic particles embedded in an Al₂O₃‐ZrO₂ matrix, was measured through thermogravimetric analysis. In this work oxidation mechanisms were proposed and kinetic parameters defined using a software module for the kinetic analysis of thermal measurements by means of multiple linear or non‐linear regression. The morphology of the oxidized surfaces of the samples was examined by using scanning electron microscopy. Oxides were identified by X‐ray diffraction. The oxidation kinetics of metallic particles of niobium and nickel are highly complex, for they depend on various factors, i.e., metal’s characteristics, processing of the composite, oxygen diffusion through the matrix, grain boundaries, and heating rate applied to the material.     

Electrophoretic deposition and its use to synthesize ZrO2/Al2O3 micro-laminate ceramic/ceramic composites

Electrophoretic deposition has been employed to synthesize yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ)/alumina, laminar microcomposites with a total of 80 layers, >2mm. 10 wt% solids, ethanol suspensions of YSZ or Al₂O₃ powders were deposited layer by layer. The deposited samples had a green density, ~60% theoretical. The deposition process was characterized by the rate-of-deposition as a function of voltage and the microstructure of the sintered, theoretically dense samples was characterized by optical and electron microscopy. Microindentation was used to explore the mechanical properties of the laminates.     

Microstructure and thermal shock resistance of Al2O3 fiber/ZrO2 and SiC fiber/ZrO2 composites fabricated by hot pressing

Al₂O₃ chopped fiber/ZrO₂ and SiC continuous fiber/ZrO₂ composites were fabricated by hot pressing at 1550°C and 15 MPa in vacuum. The mechanical properties of thermally shocked composites were measured at room temperature by four-point bending. The addition of Al₂O₃ fibers into ZrO₂ matrix degraded the fracture strength, but improved significantly the thermal shock resistance. In addition, the mechanical properties of SiC fiber/ZrO₂ composites were much lower than those of monolithic ZrO₂ because of the presence of microcracks on the surface. The SiC fiber/ZrO₂ composites showed an excellent thermal shock resistance.     

Fracture behaviour of composites based on Al2O3-TiC

The critical stress intensity factor and other related fracture parameters have been measured in three-point bending for pure Al₂O₃-TiC composites containing 4 to 35 volume fractions of TiC. An increase has been observed for all the parameters with increasing volume fraction of TiC. Following a study of the mode of fracture, the results are explained in terms of a linear variation of the fracture energy with the volume fraction of TiC.     

Synthesis of Al2O3 matrix composites by reactive infiltration

Reactive infiltration of a NiO-base blended powder with molten aluminium was attempted at 1673 K in order to obtain Al2O3 matrix composites containing a dispersion of Al3Ni, AlNi and/or AlNi3. The NiO powder was barely infiltrated by the molten aluminium after a 3600 s holding time at 1673 K. A continuous layer of Al2O3 was observed to exist at the infiltration front, which prevented any further infiltration. TiB2 particles were added to the NiO powder in order to absorb the heat of reaction between NiO and aluminium. When the TiB2 particle content in the [NiO+TiB2] powder blend was greater than 20 vol%, spontaneous infiltration occurred completely. Thus, it was shown that the addition of the TiB2 particles assisted in the spontaneous infiltration. The specimens produced by the in situ reaction consisted of Al2O3, TiB2 and Al3Ni. Al3Ni was mainly located between the TiB2 and Al2O3. The effect of the TiB2 addition on the infiltration kinetics was to decrease the maximum attainable temperature caused by the exothermic reaction. This in turn prevented the formation of a continuous Al2O3 film at the infiltration front. This resulted in the production of pathways for the infiltration of the molten aluminium and made possible the complete infiltration. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Superplasticity of ZrO2 and ZrO2/Al2O3 composite consisting of nano-sized grains

 Y₂O₃-stabilized ZrO₂ and Y₂O₃-stabilized ZrO₂/10 mol%Al₂O₃ composite both consisting of homogeneous nano-sized grains were successfully fabricated by a pulse electric current sintering through solution chemistry technique. The relative density was above 97% for both the obtained materials, and the grain size was less than 90 nm and 40 nm for the ZrO₂ monolith and the ZrO₂/Al₂O₃ composite, respectively. The materials showed superplastic behavior in compression at temperature of 1200°C. Received: 2 March 1998 / Accepted: 10 March 1998     

Microstructure,tensile properties and fracture behaviour of Al2O3 particulate-reinforced aluminium alloy metal matrix composites

The tensile deformation and fracture behaviour of aluminium alloy 2014 discontinuously-reinforced with particulates of Al₂O₃ was studied with the primary objective of understanding the influence of reinforcement content on composite microstructure, tensile properties and quasi-static fracture behaviour. Results reveal that elastic modulus and strength of the metal-matrix composite increased with reinforcement content in the metal matrix. With increase in test temperature the elastic modulus showed a marginal decrease while the ductility exhibited significant improvement. The improved strength of the Al-Al₂O₃ composite is ascribed to the concurrent and mutually interactive influences of residual stresses generated due to intrinsic differences in thermal expansion coefficients between constituents of the composite, constrained plastic flow and triaxiality in the soft and ductile aluminium alloy matrix due to the presence of hard and brittle particulate reinforcements. Fracture on a microscopic scale initiated by cracking of the individual or agglomerates of Al₂O₃ particulates in the metal matrix and decohesion at the matrix-particle interfaces. Failure through cracking and decohesion at the interfaces increased with reinforcement content in the matrix. The kinetics of the fracture process is discussed in terms of applied far-field stress and intrinsic composite microstructural effects.     

纳米Al2O3/ZrO2复合粉体的制备及表征

高性能的复合粉体是制备纳米复相陶瓷材料的关键.采用醇-水溶液加热法结合共沉淀过程制备纳米Al2O3/ZrO2复合粉体,研究了不同沉淀剂对粉体团聚的影响,利用透射电镜、X射线衍射、热重-差热分析、比表面积测定等技术对获得的纳米复合粉体进行了表征.结果表明:采用NH4HCO3作为沉淀剂可以得到几乎无团聚的碱式碳酸盐前驱物,该前驱物在煅烧过程中的物相变化显示四方相氧化锆(t-ZrO2)的形成温度大幅度地提高,同时在较低温度下生成了α-Al2O3,在1 100℃转变为t-ZrO2相和α-Al2O3相;粉体中两相颗粒分散良好、粒径一致、无硬团聚,其平均粒径为15～20 nm,比表面积为69.5 m2·g-1.     

Ultrasonic homogenization of equivolumetric Al2O3/ZrO2 suspensions

The equivolumetric ZrO₂-Al₂O₃ ceramic composite shows very good mechanical properties due to its interpenetrating microstructure; unfortunately it is very difficult to achieve a well dispersed aggregates free mixture. In this paper ultrasonication was used as a dispersion and mixing aid for aqueous suspension of ZrO₂-Al₂O₃ powders. The suspensions were stabilised using either an electrostatic or an electrosteric mechanism. The influence of ultrasonication time as well as solid contents in the suspensions were investigated via rheological measurements. The goal was to optimise the process in order to obtain a well dispersed system without aggregates. The results indicate that there is, for every system, a threshold time over which aggregates start to reappear.