Toughening Behavior Involving Multiple Mechanisms: Whisker Reinforcement and Zirconia Toughening

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Abstract
Since the contribution of transformation toughening increases with the loca crack resistance (which is proportional to the toughness of the matrix), ZrO 2 particles were added to a toughened, whisker‐reinforced ceramic matrix. Analysis revealed that the combination of these multiple toughening agents should result in ceramic composites tougher than (1) that achieved by either mechanism by itself or (2) the sum of the two processes. The toughness of mullite could be increased 1.8‐and 2.4‐fold with a 20 vol% addition of ZrO 2 particles or SiC whiskers, respectively. However, when 20 vol% of both ZrO 2 particles and SiC whiskers were added, the toughness was increased at least 3‐fold with monoclinic m ‐ZrO 2 and by >5‐fold with tetragonal t ‐ZrO 2 . The differences in the toughening achieved when t ‐ZrO 2 vs m ‐ZrO 2 is present in the SiC‐whisker‐reinforced mullite are attributed to differences in their interdependencies upon the whisker reinforcement.

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