Evaluation of the mechanical properties of SPS-manufactured Al2O3- and TiB2-based materials

The mechanical properties have been tested for submicron Al2O3, Al2O3 with 25 vol% SiC whiskers and (Ti)0,05(TiB2)0,95 through Vickers hardness, fracture toughness and 4-point bending strength. A fractographic investigation was made on the samples that were subjected to 4-point bending strength testing. All the materials show similar mechanical properties as the commercial materials. Addition of a small amount of titanium to TiB2-materials ((Ti)0,05(TiB2)0,95) to increase the sinterability gave equal or even better properties than monophasic TiB2. The bending strength results gave a relatively high standard deviation, which partly can be explained by the influence of the surface finish, which also has been confirmed through the fractography analysis. The work has been performed in cooperation with the project Light Weight Armour.