Previously we reported that the grain growth rate of alumina during hot-pressing was slower than that during ordinary sintering but increase in temperatures during pressing caused very remarkable growth of alumina grains.
In the present experiment Linde-C alumina was hot-pressed in various ranges of temperatures, and the effect on grain growth phenomenon of alumina was examined. Alumina specimens were heated inductively up to 1800°C in 30 min. and cooled immediately in graphite molds. The pressure of 200kg/cm
2 was applied in various ranges of temperatures i.e. from room temperature to 1500°, 1600° or 1700 or from 1500°, 1600° or 1700° to 1800° or from 1600° to 1700°C.
Exaggeratedly grown grains (100 to 1500 microns in length) were observed in alumina heated at increasing temperatures in the range from 1600° to 1700°C under a constant pressure and completely densified. On the other hand, alumina heated up to 1600° or from 1700° to 1800°C under the same pressure consisted of fine grains and the average grain diameter at their central zones was smaller than 10 microns. These phenomena, were discussed with respect to strain energy and its relaxation; the strain energy was given by the plastic deformation of alumina grains during hot-pressing and was relaxed by recrystallization and subsequent grain growth.
According to M. L. Kronberg (
J. Am. Ceram. Soc.,
45, 274 (1962)) the yield stress of alumina single crystal is 220kg/cm
2 at 1600°C and at the strain rate of 0.002 in/in/min. So the applied pressure of 200kg/cm
2 slightly above 1600°C might give a slow and successive plastic deformation and strain to alumina grains. Such strain energy would make only few grains grow exaggeratedly, because it is two orders of magnitude larger than free energy at grain boundaries which is the driving force of ordinary grain growth.
The reason why alumina pressed above 1700° or below 1600°C did not show exaggerated grain growth were also discussed in respect of the amount of strain energy, the number of recrystallization nuclei and relaxation by recovery.
Alumina hot-pressed almost to theoretical density and then heated one hundred degrees additionally in several min. had a layer of coarse grains (30 to 100 microns in diameter) at their surfaces. Such grains were explained by the enhancement of normal grain growth by the temperature gradient within the specimen.
If
ΔT is the temperature difference across the grain boundary and
ΔF is the change in free energy on going across the boundary, the rate of the boundary movement is described in the next equation,
G=
RT/
Nh⋅
l⋅exp(-
ΔF*/
RT)⋅
ΔF*/
RT(
ΔT/
T+
ΔF/
ΔF*)
where
ΔF* is the activation energy of grain growth and
l is the average distance of each atomic jump.
Comparing with the equation derived by N. F. Mott (
Proc. Phys. Soc.,
60, 391 (1948)) for the case with no temperature gradient,
G=
RT/
Nh⋅
l⋅exp(-
ΔF*/
RT)⋅
ΔF*/
RTthe author concluded that the rate of the grain boundary movement was enhanced by the temperature gradient at the ratio of (
ΔT/
T+
ΔF/
ΔF*) to
ΔF/
ΔF*. When
ΔT is assumed to be 0.05°C at the surface of the specimen, which is the case of the present experiment, the ratio becomes 5:1. This means that the rate of the boundary movement becomes 5 times faster than in the case of uniform heating.
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