Enhanced tensile ductility in ZrO 2–Al 2O 3-spinel composite ceramic

Abstract

For ZrO 2–30 vol% Al 2O 3-30 vol% spinel, elongation-to-failure is evaluated by measuring the distance between the marker lines placed within the geometric gauge portion of tensile specimen. At strain rates of 10 −2–10 −1 s −1, elongations exceed 2000%; a maximum elongation of 2510% is recorded at a strain rate of 0.085 s −1. Cavitation is significantly suppressed owing to stress relaxation at grain boundaries, which is caused by dislocation-induced plasticity in ZrO 2 grains.