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Aluminum Oxide – Everything You Need to Know

November 21, 2024

What is Aluminum Oxide?

 
Aluminum oxide, abbreviated as alumina, is a tough Technical ceramic material with the perfect combination of mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties. Thanks to its superior cost-to-price performance, alumina has been universally utilized in various industrial applications.
 
Industrial alumina materials are crafted from bauxite and diaspore. The chemical formula of alumina is Al2O3. In most cases, alumina has three kinds of crystal structure, which are α-Al2O3, β-Al2O3, and γ-Al2O3, respectively. The inherent structures present different properties but are almost entirely converted into α-Al2O3 at temperatures above 1300℃.
 

Alumina Benefits

 
Perfect electrical Insulation: It’s ideal for various high-voltage uses
 
 High dielectric strength, dielectric constant, and volume resistivity
 
 Remarkable mechanical strength, even if in high-temperature operation 
 
 Superb wear resistance and durability with self-lubrication attribute
 
 High-temperature resistance even works up to 1750℃ in the air 
 
 Good thermal conductivity with quick dissipation and thermal shock resistance
 
 Transparent of over 99.99% purity alumina to microwave radio frequencies
 
 Fabulous chemical stability and no corrosion in a variety of harsh conditions
 

Alumina Grades 

 
Alumina is classified into many grades to reach different fields and diverse application needs.
 
1. By particle size: alumina powder is classified as nano, fine, medium, and coarse.
2. By uses: alumina can be divided into high purity grade, industrial, and special.
3. By production process: aluminum oxide can be divided into electrolytic alumina, hydrothermal, and alumina sol methods.
4. By application fields: metallurgical grade alumina and high purity grade
 
The nano, fine, and medium grades of alumina are regularly used in JingHui Industry production. We have four variations per alumina purity: 95%, 99%, 99.5%, and 99.7% al2o3. In these different purities of al2o3, the targeted additives with specific dosages can be mixed with the alumina material to obtain the designated properties.  
 

Alumina Ceramic Material Properties

Physical properties

Item Unit 99.7% al2o3 99.5% al2o3  99% al2o3 95% al2o3
Density g/cm3 ≧3.95 ≧3.90 ≧3.85 ≧3.65
Hardness GPa 14.1 14.1 13.7 11.5
Tensile strength MPa 279 262 248 221
Compressive strength MPa 2650 2240 2240 2000
Flexural Strength @ 25℃ MPa 390 379 338 320
Fracture Toughness MPam1/2 4~5 4~5 4~5 3~4
Elastic modulus GPa 380 370 350 303
 

Thermal Properties

Item Unit 99.7% al2o3 99.5% al2o3 99% al2o3 95% al2o3
Thermal conductivity
@ 25℃
W/m.k 31 30 29 24
Specific heat capacity J.kg*k @100℃ 780 780 780 780
Thermal expansion coefficient
@ 25℃ to 700℃
10-6/K 6.5~8.2 6.5~8.0 6.2~8.0 5.0~8.0
Thermal shock  ≧200 ≧200 ≧200 ≧220
Max. service temperature
(In the air)
1750 1650 1600 1450

 

Electrical properties

Item Unit 99.7% al2o3 99.5% al2o3 99% al2o3 95% al2o3
Dielectric strength
@ 25℃
KV/mm 20 19 18 18
Dielectric constant @1MHz (E) 9.8 9.7 9,5 9.5
Dielectric loss @ 25℃ 1MHz <0.0001 0.0001 0.0002 0.0002
Volume resistivity
@ 25℃
ohm. cm >1* 1014 >1* 1014 >1* 1014 >1* 1014

 

Alumina Ceramic Machining

 
Industrial ceramics have stringent requirements on dimensional accuracy and surface quality in applications requiring high-tech fields and extreme environments.
 
Since the ceramic body will shrink approximately 20% after sintering, holding the tight tolerance before machining is almost impossible. That’s why ceramic machining is essential to conduct after being fired and sintered. Because of the extraordinary hardness of alumina ceramic, single-crystal diamond tools and diamond grinding wheels are required in the machining process. The typical alumina ceramic machining covers fine grinding, honing, chamfering, CNC machining, milling, threading, tapping, drilling, engraving, polishing, etc. The dimensional tolerance can achieve +/-0.005mm or better and a mirror effect.
 
Our factory has advanced machining facilities, including 4-axis and 5-axis machining centers, internal and external grinding machines, flat grinding machines, honing machines, and polishing machines. The machined Ceramic Components not only realize the desired fitting relationship but also enhance the devices' performance and reliability. 
Alumina Ceramic Machining
 

Aluminum Oxide (Al2O3) Uses

In modern industrial applications, aluminum oxide (Al2O3) takes a far cry position of the advanced ceramic family others, and you can easily find them in the following fields:

1. Electrical and Electronics

Alumina offers excellent electrical insulation, high dielectric strength, high heat conductivity, high mechanical strength, and transparency, making it suitable for electrical and electronic devices. The primary forms of alumina are alumina insulators, alumina substrates, insulation tubes, semiconductor package ceramics, and transparent ceramics.
 

2. Machinery

Because of its excellent high hardness and wear resistance, high-temperature stability, chemical inertness, and other physical properties, alumina is usually a wise choice for Engineered Ceramics in machinery, such as ceramic bearings and shafts, Ceramic Seals, ceramic grinding mechanisms, ceramic cutting inserts, and tools, wear parts, thread/yarn guides, etc.
 

3. Refractories

As the strengths of high melting point, resistance to high temperature, and good thermal shock, ceramic setter plates, ceramic crucibles, labware, refractory tubes, and ceramic thermal protection tubes for industrial high-temperature furnaces.
 

4. Automobile industry

Due to its high heat resistance, hardness, and good wear resistance, alumina produces engine combustion chamber components and piezoelectric elements in sensors and actuators. It can also be used in exhaust gas treatment systems.
 

5. Petrochemicals

Alumina can resist corrosion from various acids and alkalis and extend the service life of equipment. Thus, They are often used for corrosion-resistant coatings, inorganic microfiltration ceramic membranes, and chemical seasoning balls.
 

6. Energy

Since alumina can withstand the harsh environments of high temperature, high pressure, corrosion, and high wear, alumina-based nozzles, combustion chambers, and turbine blades are widely used in thermal power plants, metal smelting, and nuclear reactor structural parts.
 

7. Biomedical material

Considering its excellent biocompatibility, biological inertness, physical and chemical stability, and high hardness, alumina is often used to make artificial bones, joints, and teeth.
 

8. Aerospace 

Given their ability to withstand high temperature, high pressure, high strength, high wear, strong corrosion resistance, and good thermal insulation, precisely machined alumina products are used as ultra-high-precision structural components in engines, combustion chambers, solar panels, satellite antennas, and casings in spacecraft and satellites.‌
 

Conclusions‌

As the most essential material in modern industry, alumina ceramics have been recognized as the most commercially valuable product in the advanced ceramic industry. With the emergence of powder preparation technology, new production processes, new manufacturing technologies, and composite modification and surface treatment of alumina ceramics, its performance can be further improved, and its application areas can be broadened and deepened.
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