FABRICATION AND MECHANICAL-BEHAVIOR OF AL2O3/MO NANOCOMPOSITES

Two types of Al2O3/Mo Composites were fabricated by hot-pressing a mixture of gamma- or alpha-Al2O3 powder and a fine molybdenum powder For Al2O3/5 vol% Mo composite using gamma-Al2O3 as a starting powder, the elongated molybdenum layers were observed to surround a part of the Al2O3 grains, which resulted in an apparent high value of fracture toughness (7.1 MPa m/2). In the system using alpha-Al2O3 as a starting powder, nanometre sized molybdenum particles were dispersed within the Al2O3 grains and at the grain boundaries. Thus, it was confirmed that ceramic/metal nanocomposite was successfully fabricated in the Al2O3/MO composite system. With increasing molybdenum content, the elongated molybdenum particles were formed at Al2O3 grain boundaries. Considerable improvements of mechanical properties were observed, such as hardness of 19.2 G Pa, fracture strength of 884 MPa and toughness of 7.6 MPa m1/2 in the composites containing 5, 7.5, 20 vol % Mo, respectively; however, they were not enhanced simultaneously. The relationships between microstructure and mechanical properties are also discussed.