This paper presents the influence of sintering on the structure, morphology and compressing strength of alumina/nickel composite compacts obtained by spark plasma sintering (SPS). Al2O3/Ni composites were prepared by SPS in argon atmosphere at temperatures in the range of 1000–1200 –C with a holding time of 2, 5 and 10 minutes. The heating rate was 200 C min−1. These composites have been characterised by X-ray diffraction, SEM and EDX. The relative density and compressive strength of the as-obtained compacts were determined. The results showed that the alumina particles are uniformly dispersed in a quasi-continuous Ni network, and there was no sign of phase changes during sintering. The maximum strength of the alumina/nickel composite with a content of 75 vol. − Al2O3 and 25 vol. − Ni was about 240 MPa for the samples sintered at 1200 C for 10 minutes.
Special block from the conference RoPM2017 guest edited by Ionel Chicinas, Technical University, Cluj-Napoca.
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