High-temperature deformation of Al2O3/Y-TZP particulate composites Original Research Article

Al2O3/Y-TZP particulate composites with compositions of between 20 and 80 vol.% Y-TZP were produced by tapecasting, lamination, and sintering. The processing methods employed resulted in fine grain sizes with only small variations between the composites produced. The resulting particulate composites were tested in compression at a temperature of 1350 °C over strain rates from 10−5 to 3.16×10−4 s−1. Microstructural changes during testing were minor. Stress exponents were measured to the range from approximately two to three, which are consistent with published data on similar materials from tensile experiments. Models of composite creep behavior are compared to the experimental data over the full range of compositions studied. A constrained isostrain model is found to provide better predictive capabilities than either an unconstrained model, an isostress model, or a rheological model. Furthermore, the constrained isostrain model provides the most reasonable predictions for creep rates of 100% Al2O3 and 100% Y-TZP materials.