Abstract
The improvement of fracture toughness of Al2O3 ceramics is required for the application structural materials. In this paper, for this purpose Pd (palladium) particles dispersion in Al2O3 is studied. Powder contents of Pd-particles in the sintered body were 0, 10, and 15 vol% respectively. The mixtures were hot-pressed at 1350°C for 45min in nitorogen atmosphere at a pressure of 30MPa. Addition of Pd-particles is found to increase the fracture toughness of Al2O3 from 4 to 5 MPam1/2 at 10vol%.
Microstructural observations indicate that the toughness increase is a result of crack deflection around the Pd-particles.
