Densification and Mechanical Properties of YAG Ceramics Fabricated by Air Pressureless Sintering
Yttrium aluminum garnet (Y3Al5O12, YAG) ceramics with a relative density of about 99.5% were fabricated by solid-state reaction and pressureless sintering using commercial α-Al2O3 and Y2O3 powders as raw materials in air. The effect of different sintering additives, e.g. tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), MgO and TEOS + MgO, on the relative density and mechanical properties of the YAG ceramic samples were investigated. When the dopant content of TEOS exceeded 0.5 wt.%, a sudden grain growth appeared, as well as a residual second phase located in triangle grain boundary. MgO was more effective as a sintering additive than silica in promoting the densification of the YAG ceramics. The relative density of the ceramics gradually decreased with the increase of MgO doping content and fixed TEOS content. The mechanical properties of the YAG ceramics fabricated by pressureless sintering in air at 1600–1710°C were tested. The fracture surface morphology of the MgO-doped ceramic samples was mainly transgranular, whereas the TEOS-doped samples were mainly intergranular.