A comparative crystallographic analysis of the tetragonal-to-monoclinic transformation in the yttria-zirconia system

The various requirements for effective transformation toughening cannot be predicted without a detailed understanding of the crystallography of the martensitic transformation. In this connection, a comparative crystallographic analysis for four pairs of lattice-correspondence variants in the yttria-zirconia system has been performed on the basis of infinitesimal-deformation (ID) approach and Wechsler-Lieberman-Read (WLR) crystallographic theory. A comparison of the crystallographic features obtained from these two theories was made. In order to verify the applicability of the two theories to this transformation, the calculated results were also compared with the experimental data available. The present study shows that the predictions of both the ID approach and the WLR crystallographic theory can provide data necessary for the model of transformation toughening and act as a guideline for the experimental work in the yttria-zirconia system.