Abstract
Dispersant was used to avoid the agglomeration of aluminum hydrate precipitate and improve the sinterability of calcined alumina powder. The mean particle size of the aluminum hydrate precipitates was 0.26${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ and 0.44${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ when ball-milled with and without dispersant, respectively. After calcination at 110$0^{\circ}C$ for 5 hours, the size of the alumina powder without dispersant increased to 0.84${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$, while with dispersant slightly decreased to 0.22${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$. The most thermally active alumina powder was obtained from the sample calcined at 110$0^{\circ}C$ for 5 hours with the 1% dispersant concentration. Using the calcined alumina powder at the above optimized condition, the specimen showed fired density of 3.94g/㎤, 4-point MOR of 364MPa, and KIC of 3.26MPam1/2 after sintered at 155$0^{\circ}C$ for 3 hours.