Influence of Cooling Rates on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Aluminum Titanate Flexible Ceramic

Herein, aluminum titanate (Al2TiO5, AT) flexible ceramics with different cooling rates (program-controlling cooling (10 and 20 degrees C min(-1)), air cooling (approximate to 400 degrees C min(-1)), and water cooling (>1000 degrees C min(-1)) are fabricated by reaction sintering of Al2O3 and TiO2. The effect of cooling rates on microstructures and the mechanical properties of AT ceramics are systematically investigated. The microcrack width and density of AT ceramics with different cooling rates are statistically calculated. In addition, the effect of a microcracks structure on the mechanical properties of AT ceramics is deeply studied. Results show that the increase in cooling rate will increase the width and density of microcrack, leading to a suitable increase in flexibility and a slight decrease in strength. When AT is cooled in air, the best bending strain of 1.10% can be obtained, with a median microcrack width of 0.533 mu m and a density of 6831.88 +/- 374.87 N mm(-2). It is hopeful that through this research, the effect of cooling rate on the mechanical properties of AT flexible ceramics can be deeply understood, and the strategy used in this research can be used in other exploration of similar material.