Increasing of tetragonal zirconia formation in the reaction sintering of alumina-zircon

In this study it was tried to investigate on the effective parameters of the formation and increasing tetragonal zirconia phase in reaction sintering of alumina and zircon.  In this way, alumina and zircon powders were mixed by the ratio of 85 to 15 wt.% and sintered at different conditions. Sintering temperature (1500-1650˚C), furnace type (conventional and microwave) and the milling time of reactant (0.25, 1 and 3 h) were studied. Tetragonal zirconia phase was calculated and compared by semi quantitative analysis method using XRD. Also, porosity, microstructure and strength of the prepared composites were compared with each other. Results showed that increasing the milling time of reactant or using microwave heating were lead to the increasing of tetragonal zirconia formation but increasing the sintering temperature did not any significant effect on it.