Failure mechanisms and strength of zirconia partially stabilized with yttrium oxide

See adjacent abstract. Fracture mechanisms and strength of partially stabilized zirconia (PSZ) is studied in dependence on yttria content and annealing temperature. Cracking, interparticle failure and chip relationship, porosity, particle size and shape, and second phase particles are the basic morphological characteristics for ZrO sub 2 fractures. It is found that the intergranular microcracking resulted from both the phase transformation and the thermal expansion anisotropy is the basic mechanism of fracture toughness enhancement for PSZ. Capable of transformation strengthening ceramics with an optimum content of stabilizer is broken up by chip.