The composite ceramic was composed of α-Al2O3 (0.5 μm,
56 vol%), nano-sized TiC particle (40 nm, 6 vol%), microsized
TiC particle (0.5 μm, 35 vol%) and Co (2 μm, 3 vol%).
The composite ceramic was hot-pressed with an applied
pressure of 32 MPa at 1650 1C for 20 min in a vacuum
sintering furnace. Details of preparation procedures were
described elsewhere