Microstructural and mechanical properties of Al2O3 and ZTA foams prepared by thermo-foaming technique

Abstract Alumina and zirconia toughened alumina foams were fabricated through a thermo-foaming method using varying amounts of powder to sucrose weight ratio. All the fabricated foams were characterized for their compressive strength, bending strength, and fracture toughness under static loading conditions. The compressive strength increases with an increase in a weight ratio from 0.4 to 1.2. The maximum compressive strength values were found to be 1.9 MPa, and 1.8 MPa for alumina and zirconia toughened alumina foams, respectively. Further increase in powder to sucrose weight ratio led to a decrease in the compressive strength due to the partial collapse of the cell walls during the foaming process. The 3-point bend test results revealed an improvement of bending strength and fracture toughness values of zirconia toughened alumina foams compared to alumina foam, which can be attributed to the transformation toughening mechanism.