No CrossRef data available.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 July 2020
In polycrystalline liquid-phase sintered (LPS) alumina ceramics, intergranular phases have proved to have a profound effect on mechanical properties such as strength, toughness, plastic deformation, and high-temperature creep. The presence of such intergranular phases, can also influence the kinetics of many processes including sintering, grain growth, and phase transformations. As a result, the key to optimizing the performance of a ceramic material is frequently related to optimizing the properties of these grain boundary regions. In order to understand the interactions between the glass layer and the crystalline grains at a fundamental level, the amorphous material must be placed in contact with the crystalline ceramic as a thin film in a controlled manner. Preparation of such a glass phase in the thin-film geometry has also prompted the use of nontraditional mechanicaltesting techniques.
In the present study, interfaces between silicate glass and single-crystal α-Al2O3 have been studied using AFM and nanoindentation.