Development and Characterization of Y 2 O 3 ‐Stabilized ZrO 2 (Y‐TZP) Composites with TiB 2 , TiN, TiC, and TiC 0.5 N 0.5

Up to 50 vol% of TiB 2 , TiC 0.5 N 0.5 , TiN, or TiC was added to Y 2 O 3 ‐stabilized tetragonal ZrO 2 polycrystals (Y‐TZP) and hot pressed under vacuum. The influence of the type of secondary phase on the microstructure and mechanical properties was studied, as a function of the hot‐pressing temperature. The influence of the secondary‐phase content on the mechanical properties was studied by varying the TiB 2 content up to 50 vol%. Fully dense Y‐TZP‐based composites with very high toughness (up to 10 MPa·m 1/2 ), excellent bending strength (up to 1237 MPa), and increased hardness, with respect to ZrO 2 (Vickers hardness up to 1450 kg/mm 2 ), were obtained.