Effect of Fabrication Parameters on Mechanical Properties of Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> Ceramic Tool Materials

In order to investigate the effect of hot-press fabrication parameters on mechanical properties of Al2O3 ceramic tool materials, the orthogonal experiment method was used. In the experiments, the three influence factors such as the fabrication temperature, pressure and duration time are considered. The experimental results are analyzed by a range analysis of orthogonal experiments. It is shown that the most important factor that affects the mechanical properties is the fabrication temperature and the followed factors are the fabrication pressure and the duration time of fabrication. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) reveals that the hot-press fabrication parameters will significantly affect the microstructure of ceramic tool materials, which can govern the mechanical properties. This has been validated by the orthogonal experiments in the present paper.