Abstract
Partially stabilized zirconia is a desirable material as high toughness ceramics. On the other hand, Al2O3-ZrO2 composite is also a desirable material for engineering ceramics because of chemical stability, high hardness, high wear resistance and high toughness. Some properties of Al2O3-ZrO2 composites such as critical grain size for tetragonal ZrO2 and mechanical behabior have been reported, but studies on the transformation behavior are scarce.In the present research, the microstructure and transformation behavior of zirconia in Al2O3-ZrO2 composites were studied. Specimens containing 5 to 15vol% ZrO2 were hot-pressed and analyzed mainly by laser Raman spectroscopy and microstructure was observed by SEM.The transformation of zirconia in Vickers-indented areas was more pronounced near the edge (stress concentrated area) than the center area. On the fracture surface after the bending test, the transformation proceeded in the tensile stress area, i.e., the fracture origin. Therefore, it was thought that the stress-induced transformation is closely related to tensile stress.
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