Young's Modulus, Flexural Strength, and Fracture of Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia versus Temperature

The flexural strength and elastic modulus of cubic zirconia that was stabilized with 6.5 mol% yttria was determined in the temperature range of 25°–1500°C in air. Specimens were diamond machined from both hot‐pressed and sintered billets that were prepared from alkoxy‐derived powders. The flexural strength of the hot‐pressed material decreased, from }300 MPa at 25°C to 50 MPa at 1000°C, and then increased slightly as the temperature increased to 1500°C. The flexural strength of the sintered material decreased, from 150 MPa at 25°C to 25 MPa at 750°C, and then appeared to increase slightly to }1500°C. Flexural strengths were comparable to other fully stabilized zirconia materials. The overall fracture mode was transgranular at low temperatures, mixed mode at }500°–1000°C, and intergranular at higher temperatures. Pores or pore agglomerates along grain boundaries and at triple points were fracture origins. The value of the porosity‐corrected Youngs moduli was 222 GPa at 25°C, decreased to }180 GPa at 400°C, and then was relatively constant with increasing temperature to 1350°C.