Sj. Glass et Dj. Green, MECHANICAL-PROPERTIES OF INFILTRATED ALUMINA-Y-TZP COMPOSITES, Journal of the American Ceramic Society, 79(9), 1996, pp. 2227-2236
Small Al2O3 additions (similar to 4 vol%) made to Y-TZP using an infil
tration technique increased the fracture toughness and strength by sim
ilar to 15% and the amount of transgranular fracture. Ionic conductivi
ty measurements showed decreased grain-boundary conductivity, confirmi
ng a change in the grain-boundary composition. The predominant failure
origins for both the unmodified Y-TZP and the Al2O3-Y-TZP were surfac
e flaws related to agglomerates in the original powder Finishing reduc
ed the severity of these flaws and substantially increased the strengt
h of both materials (>50%). The infiltration approach introduced a new
flaw population in some specimens; however, this problem was overcome
by a simple processing modification.