Thermal shock resistance of two micro-structured alumina obtained by natural sintering and SPS

In the present work, the indentation air quenching technique was used to evaluate thermal shock behavior of a micro-structured alumina obtained with different sintering techniques (Spark Plasma Sintering and natural sintering) and conditions (varying dwell time, dwell temperature and pressure). The main objective is to evaluate the effect of the sintering technique on the thermal shock properties, by comparing the mechanical and thermal shock properties between samples prepared by natural sintering and SPS. Another objective is to determine how the grains size and porosity affect the initiation and growth of cracks in samples submitted to thermal shocks of different amplitudes. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.