In this study, the prestressed coating reinforcement method was employed to create kyanite-coated zirconia toughened alumina (ZTA) prestressed ceramics. Due to the mismatch of the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) between the coating and substrate, compressive residual stress was introduced in the coating. The effects of compressive residual stress on the mechanical properties of ZTA have been demonstrated. Results show that the flexural strength of the kyanite-coated ZTA ceramics improved by 40% at room temperature compared to ZTA ceramics. In addition, the temperature dependence of mechanical properties has also been discussed. And the results show that the reinforcement gradually diminished with increasing temperature and eventually disappeared at 1000 °C. The modulus of elasticity of the material also exhibits a decreasing trend. Furthermore, the introduction of the prestressing coating enhanced the thermal shock resistance, but the strengthening effect diminished as the temperature increased and completely disappeared at 800 °C.
Keywords: ZTA; flexural strength; in situ synthesis; kyanite; residual stress.