Enhanced shock performance by disperse porous structure:A case study in PZT95/5 ferroelectric ceramics

The porosity and corresponding microstructural features ultimately determine the properties of the macroporous materials. In this work, porous PZT95/5 ferroelectric ceramics having a common bulk density but with disperse and agglomerated pore distribution were prepared to study their influence on the physical properties. It is experimentally demonstrated that pore distribution exhibits significant influence on the shock compression response behaviors. Porous PZT95/5 ferroelectric ceramics with disperse pores exhibit enhanced shock resistance and thus higher breakdown strengths than its counterparts with agglomerated voids. To explain the underlying physical mechanism, a lattice-spring model was employed to simulate both macroscopic shock response and mesoscopic evolution of the microstructures under shock compression. Our simulation results are concordant with our experimental observations. The enhanced shock resistance and larger shock plasticity of porous PZT95/5 ferroelectric ceramics with disperse pores under shock compression was found to be responsible for the superior performance.