exhibits a marked "pseudo-plastic" behaviour during the high temperature test. Similar values of fracture strength were measured at room temperature and at 1200°C confirming that the testing temperature does not induce fibre damage. Thus applications of the present composites at temperatures up to 1200°C are possible. The assessment of thermal aging effects and the thermal shock behaviour of the composites are the focus of current research.
ExperimentalThe used oxide fibre mats were of the type Nextel TM 720 (3M Corporation, ST. Paul, MN, USA). These woven fabrics contain ∼ 400 individual filaments with diameters between 10 and 12 lm. As precursor for the oxide ceramic matrix a-Al 2 O 3 powder (AKP-50, Sumitomo, Chemicals, Tokyo, Japan) with particle size between 100 and 300 nm were used. The powder were dispersed in ethanol medium to avoid gas evolution, which may occur in deposition from aqueous suspensions. [7] The composition of the suspension used for the EPD experiments was based on a concentration of 25 wt-% a-Al 2 O 3 in ethanol and the addition of adequate concentrations of additives, as optimized and described in our previous work. [6] The complete process of fabrication is shown in Figure 1. EPD was carried out using a novel EPD cell, shown in Figure 2(b). A constant electric field of 50 V/cm was applied for all the experiments.After EPD, the green bodies were dried in air at ambient temperature and the densification of the composite was carried out in air by a pressureless sintering process at temperatures between 1250°C and 1300°C. Upon reaching the sintering temperature the composites were cooled down in the furnace, thus no holding time at the sintering temperature was applied. From sintered discs of nominal 2.5 mm thickness, test bars of appropriate dimensions (length: 50 mm, width: 4.5 mm) were cut for mechanical property measurements.Four point bending strength tests were carried out to characterize the mechanical behaviour of the composites. The flexural strength was determined in a Zwick Z50 testing machine equipped with high temperature furnace (up to 1200°C). The composites were tested at ambient temperature and at 1200°C using a rig with an inner span of 20 mm and an outer span of 40 mm. Specimen deflection was measured by high precision inductive transducer applying one measuring and two reference transmission rods directly to the specimen. The heating rate was in the range 8-10°C/min. The holding time at the test temperature before starting the test was 15 min. The crosshead speed was 0.1 mm/ min and the load cell capacity 1 kN.Tissue engineering uses a scaffold made of a suitable biomaterial to induce the regeneration of diseased or injured tissue. [1,2] Ideally, the scaffold materials should be biocompatible, support/foster cells, temporarily replace the mechanical COMMUNICATIONS ADVANCED ENGINEERING MATERIALS 2006, 8, No. 4 285 Fig. 5. Crack deflection in an oxide-oxide ceramic matrix composite reinforced with 6 fibre mats (a-Al 2 O 3 /Nextel TM 720) tested in four point bending at ...