CHARACTERIZATION OF CERAMIC PASTES BY AN INDENTATION HARDNESS TEST

Certain material deformation properties of a typical alumina based cer amic paste system, including the hardness (a plastic yield characteris tic), the elastic modulus, a plasticity index (a measure of the relati ve elastic-plastic response), and a mean flow stress, are obtained usi ng an indentation hardness test. In order to compute these material pr operties a contact compliance procedure, in conjunction with an analys is based upon an adaptation of the Box-Cox curve fitting method for th e compliance curve, has been used The data are used to provide a basis for identifying the optimum rheological response of the paste system for plastic forming operations. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Limited.