Abstract
Sintering and microstructure of Ce-TZP/Al2O3 composite with $\alpha$-Al2O3 matrix containing dispersed 5~50 vol% ZrO2 were discussed. Sintered density was increased with elevating forming pressure in range of 6~300 MPa and about >99.2% of theoretical density was obtained at 1$600^{\circ}C$ for 2h in case of 300 MPa of 6~300 MPa uniaxially cold-pressed compacts containing 20 vol% ZrO2. All kinds of different batch composition exhibited nearly the same shrinkage behaviour with end-point shrinkage between 20 and 24%, and had the maximum shrinkage rate (0.41~0.54%/min) around 140$0^{\circ}C$. Grain growth was occurred faster in $\alpha$-Al2O3 than in {{{{ gamma }}-Al2O3 starting matrix during sintering at 1$600^{\circ}C$. Bimodal pore size distribution of interaglomerate pores with size of 0.03~0.2 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ and of interaglomerate pores with size of around 60 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ was obtained in Ce-TZP/$\alpha$-Al2O3 composite sintered at 130$0^{\circ}C$. But unimodal pore size distribution with around 0.1 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ was observed in Ce-TZP/{{{{ gamma }}-Al2O3 composite sintered at the same temperature. Microcracks were occurred due to the tlongrightarrowm transformation of ZrO2 on cooling process.