COMPOSITE MATERIALS OF A 99.7 % ALPHA-ALUMINA MATRIX WITH PLATELETS OF SILICON CARBIDE (SICP) HAVE BEEN PREPARED BY GELCASTING. DENSIFICATION WAS CARRIED OUT BY GAS-PRESSURE SINTERING WITHOUT FURTHER SINTERING AIDS. FIVE DIFFERENT COMPOSITIONS WITH 0, 5, 10, 15, AND 20 VOL.% SICP RESP. HAVE BEEN INVESTIGATED AND TRIBOLOGICAL PROPERTIES WERE CHARACTERIZED. INCREASING AMOUNT OF SICP AS RIGID PARTICLES IN THE FINE GRAINED MATRIX COMPLICATE THE DENSIFICATION PROCESS. WITH THE APPLICATION OF 50 BAR AR PRESSURE DURING THE FINAL SINTERING STEP AT A TEMPERATURE OF 1700 DEGREE C THE DENSITY OF THE SAMPLES COULD BE INCREASED BY 3-5%. INVESTIGATION OF THE TRIBOLOGICAL PROPERTIES AGAINST STEEL AS A COUNTERBODY UNDER UNLUBRICATED OSCILLATING SLIDING CONDITIONS SHOWED A HIGH COEFFICIENT OF FRICTION AND AN INCREASING WEAR RATE UP TO A SICP CONTENT OF 10 VOL. % . AT 15 AND 20 VOL. % SICP RESP. BOTH THE COEFFICIENT OF FRICTION AND THE COEFFICIENT OF WEAR DROP DOWN.