Effect of Sintering Temperature on Flexural Properties of Alumina Fiber‐Reinforced, Alumina‐Based Ceramics Prepared by Tape Casting Technique

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of sintering temperature on flexural properties of an alumina fiber-reinforced, alumina-based ceramic (alumina-fiber/alumina composite) prepared by a tape casting technique. The alumina-based ceramic used a matrix consisting of 60 wt% Al(2)O(3) powder and 40 wt% SiO(2)-B(2)O(3) glass powder with the following composition in terms of wt%: 33 SiO(2), 32 B(2)O(3), 20 CaO, and 15 MgO. Prepreg sheets of alumina-fiber/alumina composite in which uniaxial aligned alumina fibers were infiltrated with the alumina-based matrix were fabricated continuously using a tape casting technique employing a doctor blade system. Four sintering temperatures were investigated: 900 degrees C, 1000 degrees C, 1100 degrees C, and 1200 degrees C, all for 4 hours under atmospheric pressure in a furnace. The surface of the alumina-fiber/alumina composite after sintering was observed with a field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). A three-point bending test was carried out to measure the flexural strength and modulus of alumina-fiber/alumina composite specimens. In addition, sintered alumina fiber was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD). FE-SEM observation showed that alumina-fiber/alumina composite was confirmed to be densely sintered for all sintering temperatures. Three-point bending measurement revealed that alumina-fiber/alumina composite produced at sintering temperatures of 1100 degrees C and 1200 degrees C exhibit flexural strengths lower than those of alumina-fiber/alumina composite produced at sintering temperatures of 900 degrees C and 1000 degrees C; alumina-fiber/alumina composite produced at sintering temperatures of 1100 degrees C and 1200 degrees C exhibit flexural moduli lower than that of alumina-fiber/alumina composite produced at a sintering temperature of 1000 degrees C. Additional XRD pattern of alumina fiber indicated that with increasing sintering temperature, the crystallographic structure of gamma-alumina transformed to mullite. There were significant differences in the flexural properties between the alumina-fiber/alumina composite sintered at the four temperatures. This indicates that the choice of optimum sintering temperature is an important factor for successful dental applications of alumina-fiber/alumina composite developed by the tape casting system.