Production of Reaction-Sintered Ceramics in the Al2O3-SiO2-ZrO2 System

Reaction sintering processes provide one possibility for the fabrication of ceramics based on near-net shaping. In this connection, the use of intermetallic compounds, such as ZrAl3, Zr2Si and ZrSi2, has proven effective. On the basis of these compounds, in the Al2O3-SiO2-ZrO2 system, ceramics with different properties are produced. ZrSiO4-based ceramics, for example, boast low thermal expansion coefficients, while in the binary Al2O3-ZrO2 system ceramics, Al2O3-ZrO2, ceramics with bending strengths of 780 MPa can be realized. For the production of ceramic components from these innovative materials, several shaping methods were tested and their advantages and disadvantages evaluated.