Study on the Physical and Mechanical Properties of Al-Powder Reinforced Bioactive Glass: Ceramic Composite Material

Glass-ceramic samples, having composition of SiO2-35, CaO-45, Na2O-10 and P2O5-10 in weight ratio were prepared through sintering route. Glass powder was reinforced by Al powder. The strength of glass-ceramic composite was found to be temperature dependent, and it varies with the addition of Al powder. Flexural strength increases with the increase of powder addition and sintering temperature, however, decreases with the increase of sintering time. There is an optimum temperature (>1100℃) above which flexural strength of all samples decreases. Bulk density changes to a higher value as the addition of Al-powder increases up to 3% by weight above which density decreases slowly. On the other hand, apparent porosity and water absorption decrease with the increase of percentage of Al powder added. Porosity and water absorption also showed a dependent characteristic on sintering time and sintering temperature.