Mullite-zirconia composites were fabricated through reaction sintering of mechanically activated alumina and zircon powder mixtures. X-ray diffraction results showed that increasing milling time resulted in gradual weakening and broadening of alumina and zircon peaks. For the sample milled for 70 h in which there are no peaks present from zircon, heating at 1200°C resulted in the reappearance of the zircon peaks. Samples sintered at 1500°C achieved complete formation of mullite and zirconia. These samples exhibited the following physical and mechanical properties: density 3.87 g/cm 3 , open porosity 3.45%, hardness 11.44 ± 0.3 GPa and fracture toughness 4.7 Mpam 1/2 .
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