Relationship between the ultrasonic velocity and the degree of sintering of alumina-based materials

The aim of this work was to investigate the application of the ultrasonic velocity in the evaluation and characterization of the porosity and density in alumina-based materials. To make this possible, ceramic bodies with 94.3%wt. in Al(2)O(3) were uniaxially pressed and sintered at temperatures between 1100 and 1600 degrees C. In the ultrasonic tests, a piezoelectric transducer with 4 MHz was used. The obtained image was treated via software and an oscilloscope was used for standardization. The ultrasonic velocity was used as a parameter to indicate the correlation between the acoustic properties and the microstructure of the material. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.