M. Demetrio de Magalhães; S. Kalácska; S. Comby-Dassonneville; T. Douillard; G. Huynh; H. Reveron; S. Meille; T.W. Cornelius; G. Kermouche; O. Thomas; J. Chevalier
Acta Materialia 301 (2025) 121553
This study examines for the first time phase transformation of single and oligo-crystalline
tetragonal zirconia micropillars under in-situ compression with Electron Back-Scattered
Diffraction (EBSD). The tetragonal-to-monoclinic (t-m) phase transformation in ceria-doped
zirconia pillars is initiated when a critical stress threshold is reached and propagates along
individual grains with increasing stress. Grain boundaries, triple junctions, and small
processing-related pores, which lead to localized stress concentrations, facilitate the
transformation by lowering the effective applied critical stress. Our findings also align well
with the predictions of the crystallographic theory and extend observations from prior studies
on single-crystal systems, thereby providing a clearer understanding of the sequences of stress-
induced phase transformation in oligo-crystalline tetragonal zirconia