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Title: Dynamic compressive and tensile strengths of spark plasma sintered alumina

Journal Article · · Journal of Applied Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4885436· OSTI ID:22304042
;  [1]; ; ;  [2]
  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, Beer-Sheva 84105 (Israel)
  2. Department of Materials Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, Beer-Sheva 84105 (Israel)

Fully dense submicron grain size alumina samples were manufactured from alumina nano-powder using Spark Plasma Sintering and tested in two kinds of VISAR-instrumented planar impact tests. In the first kind, samples were loaded by 1-mm tungsten impactors, accelerated to a velocity of about 1 km/s. These tests were aimed at studying the Hugoniot elastic limit (HEL) of Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS)-processed alumina and the decay, with propagation distance, of the elastic precursor wave. In the tests of the second kind, alumina samples of 3-mm thickness were loaded by 1-mm copper impactors accelerated to 100–1000 m/s. These tests were aimed at studying the dynamic tensile (spall) strength of the alumina specimens. The tensile fracture of the un-alloyed alumina shows a monotonic decline of the spall strength with the amplitude of the loading stress pulse. Analysis of the decay of the elastic precursor wave allowed determining the rate of the irreversible (inelastic) strains in the SPS-processed alumina at the initial stages of the shock-induced inelastic deformation and to clarify the mechanisms responsible for the deformation. The 1-% addition of Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3} decreases the HEL of the SPS-processed alumina by 5-% and its spall strength by 50% but barely affects its static properties.

OSTI ID:
22304042
Journal Information:
Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 115, Issue 24; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English