Interface structure and interfacial phenomena in nickel oxide-cubic zirconia directionally solidified eutectics
Ceramic materials have long been valued for their mechanical and chemical stability in both high-temperature and corrosive environments, but the low fracture toughness of monolithic ceramics have precluded their widespread use as structural materials. The addition of reinforcing phases, however, can enhance fracture toughness drastically by facilitating energy-absorbing phenomena such as interface debonding and crack bridging. The ability of reinforcing phases to enhance mechanical properties is intimately connected to the properties of the heterophase interfaces. In this thesis, lamellar NiO-ZrO$\sb2$(cubic) directionally solidified eutectics are employed as model systems for investigating aspects of the interface which are relevant to the fracture behavior of brittle composites
Thesis, Dissertation, English, 1997