M. Bengisu et Ot. Inal, DENSIFICATION AND MECHANICAL-PROPERTIES OF SHOCK-TREATED ALUMINA AND ITS COMPOSITES, Journal of Materials Science, 29(18), 1994, pp. 4824-4833
The effects of shock treatment and consolidation method on densificati
on behaviour and mechanical properties of Al2O3, Al2O3-ZrO2, Al2O3-SiC
(whisker), and Al2O3-ZrO2-SiC (whisker) have been studied. It was est
ablished that shock treatment does not improve the sintering kinetics
of alumina or alumina-based composites. On the other hand, partial sho
ck compaction followed by sintering provided higher densities compared
to sintering alone. Unshocked and pressureless sintered materials pos
sessed better mechanical properties than shock-treated materials, in g
eneral. No significant difference was noted in the mechanical properti
es of hot-pressed Al2O3-ZrO2 composites with regard to shock treatment
. Improved mechanical properties were occasionally found in shock-trea
ted and hot-pressed whisker-reinforced alumina, although a direct rela
tionship with shock pressure was not observed. The improvement was att
ributed to decreased whisker aspect ratios upon shock treatment, leadi
ng to enhanced microstructural uniformity.