Kinetics of template growth in alumina during the process of templated grain growth (TGG)

Kinetics of texture development in liquid-phase sintered alumina ceramics h as been studied during templated grain growth (TGG); a technique for develo ping crystallographic texture in ceramic bodies via the grain growth of ali gned anisometric particles in a dense and fine grain size matrix. It has be en shown that significant template growth is observed only at high densitie s (similar to 91% TD). The template growth in the radial direction followed a cubic growth law just like the growth of a single crystal {1120} and {01 12} planes during the initial stage of TGG, suggesting that diffusion is th e rate-limiting step for radial growth. (C) 2001 Acta Materialia Inc. Puhli shed by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.