Effect of Orientation on Plastic Deformation Behavior of Yttria Stabilized Zirconia Single Crystal

Yttria stabilized zirconia single crystals show plastic deformation at high temperatures by activating dislocations. The plastic deformation is highly dependent on crystallographic orientation. When the samples were deformed at different orientations, stress-strain curves changed by operating different slip systems. The strength of samples was also highly dependent on crystallographic orientation, i.e., samples without yield drop showed higher strength than that of samples exhibiting yield drop. The slip systems in the sample deformed along <112>, <111> and <001> agreed with the theoretical values of the plastic deformation, following Schmid's Law. Dislocations play a major role in the plastic deformation of this crystal. At the early stages of plastic deformation, all samples exhibited dislocation dipoles and, in the later stages, dislocation interactions occurred by forming nodes, tangles and networks. In this study, three different orientations, [11-2], [111] and [001] were employed to explain the plastic deformation behavior. A microstructural analysis was performed to elucidate the mechanism of the plastic behavior of this crystal.