Title: Processing and characterisation of Al₂O₃SiO₂ZrO₂ composite material

Authors: G. Mebrahitom Asmelash; O Mamat

Addresses: Advance Materials and Process Research Cluster, Mechanical Engineering Department, Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Bandar Seri Iskandar, 31750 Tronoh, Perak, Malaysia. ' Advance Materials and Process Research Cluster, Mechanical Engineering Department, Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Bandar Seri Iskandar, 31750 Tronoh, Perak, Malaysia.

Abstract: An oxide ceramic based composite of Al₂O₃SiO₂ZrO₂ (ASZ) system was developed and investigated using a pressureless sintering route. The effect of compositions of each component on the microstructure, density, and hardness properties were studied. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were used to investigate the phase composition of ASZ composite system. The results showed that with varying ZrO₂ content, keeping the silica content constant and the alumina as a matrix, the densification tends to decrease as the content of zirconia increases starting from 10 wt. % of the composition. XRD peaks suggested a fully developed alumina, mullite and zirconia phases formed by the solid and liquid phase reaction sintering. The experimental results reveal also the hardness value was in the range of 10-12.5 GPa, the highest value for a composition of 80%wt. Al₂O₃-10%wt. SiO₂-10%wt. ZrO₂.

Keywords: alumina; composites; microstructure; pressureless sintering; silica; zirconia; oxide ceramics; density; hardness.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMMP.2012.045803

International Journal of Microstructure and Materials Properties, 2012 Vol.7 No.1, pp.64 - 76

Published online: 12 Mar 2012 *

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