Wear of Zirconia-Toughened Alumina and Whisker-Reinforced Zirconia-Toughened Alumina

Abstract

An investigation of the wear of zirconia-toughened alumina (ZTA) and whisker-reinforced ZTA (WRZTA) sliding unlubricated in air at temperatures of 293 K, 673 K, and 1073 K is reported. The ZTA specimens exhibited mild wear during 4 km(∼5 × 104 cycles) of sliding at all three temperatures. At 293 K and 1073 K the WRZTA also experiences mild wear, but at 673 K this composite begins to wear severely at less than 1 km (∼1.5 × 104 cycles) of sliding. The sliding friction coefficient for both materials varies with test temperature, and attains its greatest value, 0.8–0.9, at 673 K. Both the friction level and the microstructural form of the zirconia component influence the transition from mild to severe wear.