Composite materials based on high-modulus compounds for additive technology

The effect of adding nanocrystalline ZrO₂ and submicron TiC to ultrafine Al₂O₃ on mechanical properties and the microstructure of the composites developed by hot pressing was investigated. It was shown that by means of hot pressing in argon atmosphere at the sintering temperature of 1500 °C one can obtain the composites of Al₂O₃-ZrO₂-TiC with a fine structure and minimal porosity. It was shown that in the material a multi-scale hierarchical structure is formed, which possesses high physical and mechanical properties: the hardness and fracture toughness was 22 GPa and 5.2 MPa*m^1/2, respectively. It has been shown that mechanical properties of the composite are better than those of commercial composites based on aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃, ZTA, Al₂O₃-TiC) and are comparable to those of silicon nitride. (paper)