Microstructural pathways for the sintering of alumina ceramics

摘要

The concept of microstructure path, as the relation between at least two geometric properties of a microstructure during a dynamic process; was first introduced by DeHoff.(l) This information com pliments the dynamic information; such as the usual plots of density against time for sintering, and allows for the study of the dynamics of microstructuralchange. There are a wide range of topological and metric parameters that can be measured to give quantitative microstructural paths.(2)(3)(4) A full description of the microstructural changes would require measurement of all these parameters plus size distributions and spatial distribution of phases. However, the measurement of many of the stereo logical properties is extremely rare, especially the topological parameters which difficult to measure for fine grained material.(4) As yet, a complete series of measurements has still not been undertaken on any one material.