Abstract
The effects of aluminumtitanate (AT) particle size on the sinterability, bending strength, thermal expansion, thermal stability and thermal shock resistance of aluminumtitanate-mullite composites with various mixing ratios were studied. The results were summarized as follows. (1) The sintered density slightly increased with decreasing AT particle size. (2) The grain size of AT in sintered bodies was nearly equal to the particle size in raw mixtures, except for <1μm powder. (3) The bending strength of the composites was not influenced significantly by the particle size of AT. It was the highest at 26wt%AT composites and decreased with increasing amount of AT. (4) The degree of thermal expansion hysteresis increased with increasing amount of AT regardless the particle size. (5) The thermal expansion coefficients in heating stage of the composites were highest at 48wt%AT except the largest particle size composites, and decreased in higher AT content. These coefficients slightly increased with decrease in particle size of AT in raw mixtures. (6) The critical temperature difference of the composites raised with increase in particle size in the same AT composition.
