Mechanochemical synthesis and rapid sintering of nanocrystalline AlCr2-2Al(2)O(3) composite and its mechanical properties

Abstract

Nanopowders of AlCr2 and Al2O3 were synthesized during high energy ball milling. Densely nanostructured AlCr2-2Al(2)O(3) composite was consolidated by high-frequency induction heated sintering within 2 min from milled powders. Highly dense AlCr2-2Al(2)O(3) composite with relative density of up to 96% was produced under application of a 80 MPa pressure and the induced current. The fracture toughness of a AlCr2-Al2O3 composite in this study is similar to that of previous study, while the hardness of a AlCr2-Al2O3 composite in this study is better than that of previous study due to the grain refinement. The fracture toughness of AlCr2-2Al(2)O(3) composite is higher than that of pure Al2O3. The microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated using FE-SEM with EDS and Vickers hardness tester.