Effects of Fe–Ni alloy nanoparticles on the mechanical properties and microstructures of Al2O3/Fe–Ni nanocomposites prepared by rapid sintering

A high frequency induction heated sintering (HFIHS) process was applied to fabricate dense Al2O3 reinforced with Fe–Ni magnetic metal dispersion particles. The process is based on the reduction of metal oxide particles immediately prior to sintering. The synthesized Al2O3/Fe–Ni nanocomposite powders are formed directly from the selective reduction of metal oxide powders, including NiO and Fe2O3. A dense Al2O3/Fe–Ni nanocomposite was fabricated using the HFIHS method with an extremely high heating rate of 2000 °C/min. The phase identification of nanocomposite powders and sintered specimens was determined by X-ray diffraction. Three-point bending tests and Vickers hardness experiments were performed to investigate the mechanical properties of the Al2O3/Fe–Ni nanocomposites and the relationship between microstructure and mechanical properties was investigated using TEM and SEM supported with EDX.