Low-yttria doped zirconia: Bridging the gap between strong and tough ceramics

This work deals with the mechanical behavior of a zirconia ceramic doped with 1.5 mol% of yttria, recently developed by Tosoh (Japan). The results show that this material offers an attractive combination of strength (1 GPa) and toughness (8.5 MPa root m), near the optimum between a brittle and ductile behavior. This is attributed to the crack shielding effect of phase transformation toughening mechanism, which is here more developed compared to conventional 3Y-TZP. Moreover, a relatively high Weibull modulus of 16 and a significant crack growth resistance were observed. It was also shown that the obtained slow crack growth threshold (5.6 MPa root m) is roughly twice that of 3Y-TZP. A qualitative investigation showed that phase transformation also occurred during impact testing, which is promising for the impact resistance of this material. Although tough and strong, the material exhibits a high resistance to aging compared to standard 3Y-TZP.

Automated summary

This study investigates the mechanical behavior of a zirconia ceramic with 1.5 mol% yttria dopant, developed by Tosoh (Japan). The results demonstrate that this ceramic exhibits a balanced combination of strength (1 GPa) and toughness (8.5 MPa root m) due to the crack shielding effect of the phase transformation toughening mechanism. It also shows a high Weibull modulus (16) and crack growth resistance. Moreover, phase transformation occurs during impact testing, indicating good impact resistance.