Strength of Partly Sintered Alumina Compacts

Pressed compacts of sized alumina powders were studied to determine the dependence of strength of compacts as sintering begins and proceeds through the initial stage. By carefully controlling the time and temperature of heat treatment in a helium atmosphere, it was determined that the strength-controlling feature of these porous compacts is the area of the interparticle boundaries. Under isothermal conditions the strength was approximately proportional to time of sintering to the 2/7 power as described by theory. From these relations, it is possible to develop the semi-empirical relation between strength and porosity that predicted zero strength at a porosity equivalent to the unfired condition of the powder compact. Although not a confirmation of the grain boundary sintering model, the strength and porosity data are more consistent with the grain boundary diffusion model for initial sintering of alumina than with bulk diffusion models.