Pressureless Sintering of SiC‐Whisker‐Reinforced Al ₂ O ₃ Composites: I, Effect of Matrix Powder Surface Area

Abstract

Pressureless sintering of SiC‐whisker‐reinforced Al 2 O 3 composites was investigated. In Part I of the study, the effect of the matrix (Al 2 O 3 ) powder surface area on densification behavior and microstructure development is reported. Compacts prepared with higher surface area Al 2 O 3 powder showed enhanced densification at lower whisker concentrations (5 and 15 vol%). Samples with 15 vol% whiskers could be pressureless sintered to ∼97% relative density with zero open porosity and ∼1.6‐μm matrix average grain intercept size.