The load dependence of hardness in alumina-silver composites

The room temperature Knoop micro-hardness properties of three alumina-silver composites vis-a-vis a monolithic alumina have been investigated at different indentation loads. The composites have been developed using conventional pressureless sintering at 1550 degreesC and these consisted of 1.6, 3.38 and 5.01% by volume of silver particles. It has been shown that the measured Knoop hardness values of these materials sensitively depend on the applied load of indentation. But following an emerging analytical technique, the composites can be assigned some unique true hardness values, which are functions of their silver content. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd and Techna S.r.l. All rights reserved.