Development of ZrO2/ZTA/TiC composites

TiC was added to a matrix consisting of either (CaO+MgO) stabilised zirconia (PSZ) or Zirconia Toughened Alumina (ZTA), in order to produce composites by uniaxial pressing and sintering in vacuum at 1400 degreesC. The purpose of the present paper is to establish a correlation between the physical - mechanical and structural properties of composites with different matrices as a function of the amount of secondary phase by varying the TiC content between 5 - 25 weight %. Comparative microstructure investigations were made by TEM on sample surfaces. The results highlighted the best mechanical properties and homogeneous microstructure for the ZTA composites. The X-ray diffraction analysis was in accordance with the determined properties of the studied compositions.