Plasticity of nanocrystalline yttria-stabilized tetragonalzirconia polycrystals

The high-temperature behavior of nanocrystalline yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystals (Y-TZP) with an initial grain size of 120 nm has been studied in uniaxial compression as a function of stress (5–200 MPa) and temperature (1150–1250 °C). The creep parameters, n=2 and Q=630 kJ/mol, were obtained for all experimental conditions. Evaluation of the strain rates showed that the material was more creep resistant than expected for very fine-grained materials. An interface-controlled mechanism is proposed to account for the experimental results.