Composite ceramics of alumina-TZP(3Y) have good mechanical and electrical properties. So, They have been used as high strength refractory materials and thick film substrates, etc. In this study, Composite ceramics of alumina-TZP(3Y) were fabricated by uniaxial pressing and sintering at 1,400, 1,500, and 1,600℃, and their microstructures and mechanical properties were investigated. As the TZP(3Y) content in composite ceramics increases from 20 wt.% to 80 wt.%, the fracture toughness increases monotonically, which seems to be related to the higher relative density and/or toughening mechanism by means of stabilized tetragonal zirconia phase at room temperature. In contrast to the fracture toughness, Vickers hardness of the composite ceramics shows maximum value (1,938 Hv) at a 40 wt.% of TZP(3Y). The result of Vickers hardness is likely to be due to more dense sintered microstructure of composite ceramics than pure alumina and reinforcement of composite ceramics with TZP(3Y), considering that Vickers hardness of pure Al2O3 is greater than that of TZP(3Y). It is also shown that the ZrO2 particles are 1°Cated between Al2O3 grains and suppress grain growth each other.
