Effect of grain size on thermal shock resistance of Al2O3–TiC ceramics

In this paper, thermal shock resistance of pure hot-pressed alumina and Al2O3–TiC composites was studied. In order to assess the influence of Al2O3 and TiC starting powder size on thermal shock resistance, Al, Al2O3–TiC composites with different particle size were fabricated. The addition of TiC into alumina matrix remarkably improves the mechanical properties and thermal shock resistance. Decreasing grain size can improve the thermal shock resistance, and increase in density improves thermal shock resistance ever further. The critical thermal shock temperature difference (ΔTc) of Al2O3 (powder size 0.24 μm)–TiC (powder size 0.32 μm) composite is 100 °C higher than the ΔTc of monolith.