Structure and properties of porous ceramic preforms made of α-alumina particles

Properties of ceramic preforms made of α-alumina particles for strengthening of metal based composite materials manufactured by squeeze casting are discussed in the paper. Composite materials strengthened with ceramic particles can be then plastically worked in order to remove the residual porosity and give the final net shape. There was investigated the permeability of porous preforms as the measure of the open porosity making possible the infiltration process with the molten metal, compression strength, bending strength and shear strength determining the stability of porous ceramic preforms during infiltration. Performed investigations allow to ascertain the occurrence of the open porosity in the porous preforms and strong effect of porosity on permeability. The largest permeability of 19 m2/Pa•s showed porous preforms characterized by porosity the of 90%. The strength properties increased with the decrease of preforms porosity and the prerforms characterized by 60% of porosity were characterized by the largest strength properties (bending strength Rg =7 MPa, compression strength Rc = 11.5 MPa, shear strength Rt = 4.0 MPa). The microscopic observations of fractures surfaces allow to evaluate quality and forming phenomena of the binder bridges connecting the ceramic particles.