The influence of sintering temperature on the mechanical evolution of Al2TiO5 flexible ceramics based on the acoustic emission

Abstract To explore the influence of sintering temperature on mechanical properties of Al2TiO5 (AT) flexible ceramics, the XRD/Raman, SEM and acoustic emission (AE) technology were used to estimate the phase composition, microstructure evolution and damage behaviors of AT ceramics, respectively. Results show that the diffraction peaks of AT increase before rising sintering temperature from 1300 °C to 1500 °C and then start to decrease at 1600 °C due to the decomposition of AT grains. In specimens with sintering temperature of 1300 °C and 1400 °C, intergranular fractures are more likely to occur, which controls the origination of AE events in the whole stage. And the fracture of big bodies composed by large number of fine AT grains is the main source of AE events with high energy level at initial stage. In addition, Thanks to the more transgranular fracture in specimens with sintering temperature of 1500 °C and 1600 °C, the number of AE events in these two specimens are more than that of specimens with sintering temperature of 1300 °C and 1400 °C.