The ceramic brittleness of the pressed and sintered yttria zirconia-mullite-magnesia system

The brittleness behaviour of the pressed and sintered Yttria Zirconia-Mullite-Magnesia system has been studied. Specifically, the brittleness index represents a correlation of material properties for predicting mechanical properties such as for the characterization of machinability, wear or erosion resistance. The brittleness index as well as fracture toughness were obtained from indentation testing of the Vickers hardness. In this study, the fracture toughness considered the crack extension mechanism to accommodate Palmqvist crack criteria for the measured data. The additional of Mullite at amount of 15% into 3Y-TZP system significantly reduces the brittleness index while compared to pure Mullite system up to 69%. In the other hand, the additional Mullite 15% by weight into 3Y-TZP system proved an increase of fracture toughness value up to 138% than pure 3Y-TZP system