Viscous Sintering and Mechanical Properties of 3Y‐TZP‐Reinforced LAS Glass‐Ceramic Composites

The densification of lithium aluminosilicate glass‐ceramic composites strongly depended on dispersed 3‐mol%‐Y 2 O 3 ‐tetragonal‐ZrO 2 ‐polycrystal (3Y‐TZP) content, rather than the crystallization of a parent glass phase. Because of the reaction between 3Y‐TZP and the glass phase, tetragonal‐ZrO 2 transformed to monoclinic‐ZrO 2 with twinned structure because of the dissolution of Y 2 O 3 , and ZrSiO 4 formed. Composites containing >50 wt% 3Y‐TZP were characterized by fully densified microstructures and decreased tetragonal‐to‐monoclinic transformation. Fracture toughness increased by almost a factor of 3, which was attributed mainly to stress‐induced phase transformation of tetragonal‐ZrO 2 particles.