Hot pressing of mullite-corundum ceramic

A study has been made of the production process, the microstructure, and physicomechanical properties of a hot-pressed mullite-corundum ceramic. It has been established that the free SiO2 in the batch facilitates the compaction process during hot pressing of the mullite-corundum ceramic. The presence of significant closed porosity in the pure mullite-corundum ceramic of composition 10–20% SiO2 and 90–80% Al2O3 can be explained by the formation of a crack structure during cooling after the hot pressing.