Influence of heating curve on the sintering of alumina subjected to high-energy milling

The optimization of the heating curve is a suitable technique for obtain dense and fine microstructures ceramics. The work reported here investigated how the introduction of isothermal heat treatments influences the heating curve of an alumina subjected to high-energy milling. The results indicate that isothermal treatments at a temperature below the beginning of linear shrinkage cause the fine particles to disappear, narrowing the final grain size distribution and increasing the final mean grain size. However, these treatments promote the densification of agglomerates originating from the milling process, and decrease the material's final density. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.