Hardness and toughness of aluminum porcelains measured by the indentation test

Triaxial porcelains for utilization in electric applications use alumina in its composition replacing quartz in order to improve mechanical strength. This property is a critical parameter for the application of this product. As a consequence of that, in this work, it was evaluated the mechanical strength, analyzing porcelain hardness and toughness by the indentation test, a fast way for measurement of strength. It was studied the different models used in the measurement of these parameters found in literature. It was verified which procedures are better for this type of material, comparing to values of toughness obtained by the method of Fracture Mechanics using notched samples. It is also presented technical characterization and photomicrographs of the analyzed samples.