The purpose of this paper is to study the crack‐healing mechanism of ZrO2/SiC composite ceramics which have a high crack‐healing ability at low temperature.
The effects of dispersed SiC and the environment on crack‐healing behaviour were investigated. The fatigue strength of crack‐healed specimens was also investigated.
The main conclusions are that for crack‐healing of ZrO2 ceramics, it is necessary to have both a SiC composite and an oxidative environment; and when ZrO2/SiC composite ceramics are heat‐treated in air, a phase transformation attributable to the SiC composite results in crack‐healing and improvement of fracture toughness and bending strength.
An appropriate heat treatment for ZrO2/SiC composite caused not only crack‐healing but also the improvement of fracture toughness, and created a multiplier effect on crack‐healing, bending strength and fracture toughness.
