Reinforced ceramic cutting tool.

摘要

A cutting tool material with improved toughness behavior using alumina or silicon nitride as the matrix material. The improved toughness is achieved by the addition of whiskers and optionally zirconia in a monoclinic or tetragonal phase, to the matrix. The whiskers are disc-shaped with a thickness of 0.5-8 mu m and an equivalent diameter (hypothetical diameter of a circle with the same area as the disc) of about 5-50 mu m.