Processing and Characterization of Graphene Reinforced Al2O3 Composite

Abstract

Because of stiff competition, industries are in continuous pressure of producing high quality products. To do so, inevitably high quality cutting tools are required. Alumina (Al2O3) is a quality cutting tool that is used for high speed machining. It is a widely used tool for machining cast iron, hard steels and super alloys. Therefore, the present work has taken up to prepare an alumina cutting tool material. One of the greatest drawbacks of alumina cutting tool material is its low fracture toughness. In the present work, Graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) are considered the reinforcement in the Al2O3ceramic matrix to not only improve the fracture toughness but also the other properties. The composites are fabricated by the powder metallurgy route where the powders of raw materials are essentially subjected to compaction and sintering. Once the Al2O3 composites are fabricated and their properties are tested for their density, hardness and fracture toughness. It is observed that the GNP reinforced composites have much better properties than those of the composites without GNPs. Keywords : Graphene nanoplatelets, Al2O3 cutting tool, powder metallurgy, properties testing