Spark Plasma Sintering of Nano Silicon Carbide Reinforced Alumina Ceramic Composites
Although Al2O3 has been commercially preferred material, it cannot be used in applications subject to variable and sudden loads due to its low fracture toughness. In this study, as the primary purpose, to improve the fracture toughness of the Al2O3/nano-SiC particles was used as reinforcement phase. Ultrasonic dispersion was used to ensure good dispersion of the nano reinforcement phase in the matrix. Production was carried out by spark plasma sintering method at temperatures of 1325 °C for 5 min under 40 MPa pressure and vacuum atmosphere. After production process, sintering behavior, density, microstructure, phase structure, hardness and fracture toughness of the Al2O3/nano-SiC composites were analyzed. The highest hardness and fracture toughness of 22.83 GPa and 6.09 MPa·m1/2 was achieved, respectively.
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