Consolidated Ca alpha-SiAlON ceramics with gradually varying microstructure and property was prepared by hot-forging. The shape deformation as well as texture development of the sample during forging was studied in detail. It was found that the forging process promoted the growth of elongated alpha-SiAlON grains and enhanced their preferred orientation with the longitude perpendicular to the pressing force. The strong texture offered the hot-forged sample an increased fracture toughness of 7.9 MPa m(1/2), which was primarily attributed to the pull-out and debonding behaviors of elongated grains. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.