Vickers hardness of zirconia toughened alumina added MgO with different composition and particle size has been studied. 5 different size of magnesium oxide particle at different composition (0.5 wt % to 0.9 wt %) were studied in this experiment. Each batch of composition was mixed, uniaxially pressed into 13 mm pellets and sintered at 1600 oC for 4 hours in pressureless conditions. Analysis of Vickers hardness and microstructural observation has been carried out. Microstructural observation showed that the addition of magnesium oxide greatly affected zirconia toughened alumina microstructure. Smaller Al2O3 grain size is observed with the presence of MgO thus improving its mechanical properties such as hardness. Results of Vickers hardness increased linearly with addition of MgO until a certain composition. Each particle size of MgO addition show different composition is needed to reach the optimum Vickers hardness, depending on the particle size. The increase of hardness of the cutting insert is mainly contributed by small sized Al2O3 grains due to the microstructure pinning effect introduced by MgO. Maximum Vickers hardness achieved in this experiment is 1710 Hv, obtained at 0.7 wt% MgO with 0.15 μm particle size.
