Effect of second-phase doping on laser deposited Al2O3 ceramics
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how a second-phase doping may affect Al2O3 ceramic parts deposited by additive manufacturing (AM) with a laser-engineered net shaping system. Direct fabrication of engineering ceramic components by AM is a relatively new method for producing complex mechanical structures.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, ZrO2 and Y2O3 powders are, respectively, doped into Al2O3 powders at the eutectic ratio as second phases to improve the quality of a deposited part. The deposited Al2O3, Al2O3/ZrO2 and Al2O3/YAG (yttrium aluminum garnet) parts are examined for their micro-structures and micro-hardness, as well as defects.
Findings
The experimental results show that doping of ZrO2 or Y2O3 as a second phase performs a significant role in suppressing cracks and in refining grains of the laser-deposited parts. The micro-hardness investigation reveals that the second-phase doping does not result in much hardness reduction in Al2O3 and the two eutectic ceramics are both harder than 1,500 Hv.
Originality/value
The study concludes that the second-phase doping of ZrO2 and Y2O3 is good for improving laser-deposited Al2O3 ceramic parts.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from the National Nature Science Foundation of China (No.51175061), the Science Fund for Creative Research Groups (No.51321004), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation Funded Project (No.2014M551072), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.51402037) and the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program 2015CB057305).
Citation
Niu, F., Wu, D., Ma, G., Zhou, S. and Zhang, B. (2015), "Effect of second-phase doping on laser deposited Al2O3 ceramics", Rapid Prototyping Journal, Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 201-206. https://doi.org/10.1108/RPJ-12-2014-0167
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited