Ion irradiation effect on superplastic deformation behavior of ceramic material

Shibata, Taiju ; Ishihara, Masahiro ; Motohashi, Yoshinobu*; Baba, Shinichi; Hoshiya, Taiji; Sakuma, Takaaki*

Applications of superplastic ceramics to nuclear energy fields are very promising because of their superior mechanical and thermal properties. In this study, Zr ion irradiation effects on superplastic deformation behavior of a typical superplastic ceramic, 3mol% yttria containing tetragonal zirconia polycrystals (3Y-TZP), were studied. Zr ions with 130MeV were irradiated on the 3Y-TZP specimens by TANDEM accelerator at fluence levels of 3.5x10 and 2.1x10ions/m. Their mechanical properties were examined by three-point bending test at elevated temperatures after the irradiation. As a result, at the temperature range from the room temperature to 1473K, any obvious irradiation effects were not found by the bending test. On the other hand, at the range from 1623K to 1773K, it was found that the superplastic deformation behavior was changed by the Zr ion irradiation. The activation energy of superplastic deformation was increased with increasing the irradiation fluence.