Determination of fracture toughness of zirconia-based ceramics produced by the spark plasma sintering method

Keywords

zirconia ceramics, sintering temperature, Vickers indentation, fracture toughness.

Cite as

Kulyk V. V., Duriagina Z. А., Klimczyk P., Vavrukh V. І., Podsiadło M., Momot K., Vasyliv B. D., and Kovbasiuk Т. М. Determination of fracture toughness of zirconia-based ceramics produced by the spark plasma sintering method. Physicochemical Mechanics of Materials. 2024. 60(5), 059-066.

https://doi.org/10.15407/pcmm2024.05.059

Abstract

Fracture toughness of ZrO₂–3 mol.% Y₂O₃ ceramics produced by the spark plasma sintering (SPS) at temperatures of 1150–1350°C was studied. The fracture toughness of the ceramics was determined by the Vickers indentation method, Young’s modulus, micro­hardness, and linear crack dimensions. A comparative analysis of the calculated fracture toughness values with those obtained by the method of three-point bending of a single-edge notch beam (SENB method) was carried out. It was found that sintering at 1200°C provided the highest fracture toughness K_IC of the ceramics. Because of the differences in the microstructure of ceramics produced by SPS and conventional sintering methods, it is recommended to use traditional methods of fracture mechanics along with the indentation method to correctly determine the fracture toughness of ceramics.

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