Silicon carbide particle size effects in alumina-based nanocomposites

Al2O3/SiC nanocomposites with a systematic variation in their SiC particle size together with monolithic alumina were produced using conventional powder processing, polymer pyrolysis and hot-pressing. The microstructures of the materials were investigated by means of transmission and scanning electron microscopy and correlated to their mechanical properties. All nanocomposites showed a clear increase in strength over similar grain size alumina but no clear dependence on the size of the SiC nano-reinforcement. However, the fracture toughness of the nanocomposites seems to increase with the SiC particle size but with values little changed from the toughness of monolithic alumina as measured by the Vickers indentation technique. The surface and bulk flaw populations were characterised using a Hertzian indentation technique and a Griffith flaw size analysis of strength data. The investigations revealed a significant difference between the monolithic alumina and nanocomposites. The strength increase in the nanocomposites is explained by the observed decrease in both the surface and processing flaw sizes, which further decreased with decreasing SiC particle size. Copyright © 1996 Acta Metallurgica Inc.