In this study, a Vickers indenter was pressed into glass-infiltrated alumina, yttria-stabilized zirconia (Y-TZP), and a ceria-stabilized zirconia/alumina nano composite (Ce-TZP/Al
2O
3 nano composite), using an indentation fracture method (IF method), and the effect on the calculated Vickers hardness, fracture toughness value, and indentation fracture load was examined to deduce the optimum conditions of the IF method for each material. As a result, the optimum indentation fracture load for the IF method was 10 and 20 kgf for glass-infiltrated alumina, and 20 and 30 kgf for Y-TZP. For the Ce-TZP/Al
2O
3 nano composite, cracks occurred at only 50 kgf; therefore, the only measured value was at 50 kgf. In addition, in the Ce-TZP/Al
2O
3 nano composite, a characteristic interpenetrated intragranular nano composite structure was observed, and its cracks led to an intergranular fracture, in which the cracks develop in the composite structure of zirconia and alumina particles in a zigzag manner.
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