Articles
  • Synthesis and mechanical characterization of alumina based composite material for armor application

  • Muhammad Shahida, Rizwan Ahmed Malika,*, Hussein Alrobeib,*, Jaehwan Kimc, Muhammad Latifc, Azhar Hussaina, Muhammad Uzair Iqbala and Azeem Hafizb

  • aDepartment of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Taxila, 47050, Pakistan
    bDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Prince Sattam bin Abdul Aziz University, AlKharj 11942, Saudi Arabia
    cCenter for Nanocellulose Future Composites, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Inha University, 100 Inha-Ro, Michuhol-Ku, Incheon 22212, South Korea

  • This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

This study focuses on development of advance ceramic with improved toughness which can be used as armor material for personnel protection. Toughness is the characteristics that defines material resistance to fracture. Ceramics are important class of materials with combination of good strength, toughness and with stand multiple-striking. In this study, three different samples i.e. alumina, Zirconia toughened alumina (ZTA), and alumina incorporated with SiC (SiCA); hexagonal shape samples were made by dry pressing and sintered at 1600 oC in argon atmosphere. Microstructural characterization: SEM and Optical microscopy demonstrated fine grain size distribution in matrix phase. BSE images confirmed the presence of ZrO2 particles. High porosity of about 6.35% was observed in SiCA samples. EDX analysis confirms the composition. Mechanical characterization showed improved toughness at the expense of hardness. SiCA samples showed maximum value of hardness while ZTA showed maximum toughness of 4.6 MPa·m1/2. The obtained properties are comparable to other ceramic materials prepared by different methods


Keywords: Ceramic Matrix Composites, Zirconia Toughened Alumina, Dry Pressing, Mechanical Characterization

This Article

  • 2021; 22(2): 149-157

    Published on Apr 30, 2021

  • 10.36410/jcpr.2021.22.2.149
  • Received on Nov 11, 2020
  • Revised on Dec 15, 2020
  • Accepted on Dec 19, 2020

Correspondence to

  • Rizwan Ahmed Malik a, Hussein Alrobei b

  • aDepartment of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Taxila, 47050, Pakistan
    b

  • E-mail: rizwanmalik48@yahoo.com (R.A. Malik) h.alrobei@psa