Superplastic tensile failure in tetragonal zirconia (3Y-TZP)

Abstract

Tensile-failure is investigated in a yttria-stabilzed tetragonal zirconia as a function of the initial grain size and strain rate. The following aspect is very similar to those obtained for superplastic alumina dispersed with ZrO2 or doped with MgO: microcracking that leads to failure is caused by the extensive coalescence of micrometer-sized cavities growing with deformation. Concerning this process, discussion will be given to the effects of the initial grain size and relative density.