| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/M50102/01 |
| Title: |
PROCESSING & STRUCTURAL MODELLING OF A ZIRCONIA RESISTANT TO HYDROTHERMAL DEGRADATION |
| Principal Investigator: |
Rainforth, Professor WM |
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| Department: |
Materials Science and Engineering |
| Organisation: |
University of Sheffield |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
01 May 1999 |
Ends: |
30 April 2002 |
Value (£): |
156,753
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| No relevance to Underpinning Sectors |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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There is substantial interest in zirconia based ceramics since they offer the highest toughness of any monolithic ceramic. This is a result of the tetragonal (t) to monoclinic (m) zirconia martensitic components. However, zirconia ceramics have not realised their potential because of catastrophic strength degradation which occurs when the ceramic is held in the temperature range from 100~600*C in the presence of water ('hydrothermal degradation' or 'ageing'). Many attempts have been made to improve the resistance of Y-TZPs to hydrothermal degradation, but all have resulted in an unacceptable loss in toughness. Recent work has demonstrated that novel processing routes and trace additions can be used to provide zirconia ceramics with substantially improved resistance to low temperatures degradation but, importantly, with high toughness. This project will evaluate the reasons for the substantial improvements, believed to be associated with changes in grain boundary chemistry on the nm scale, using detailed high-resolution FEG based electron optical techniques and XPS. The project will bring together leading experts in the processing and microscopy of zirconia ceramics (Rainforth), the energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) of zirconia (McComb) and the interpretation of EELS spectra (Brydson, McComb).
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.shef.ac.uk |