Zirconia - the cinderella transformation

Zirconia and its alloys have formed a turning point in mechanical property developments of engineering ceramics. This can be stated primarily because zirconia alloys were one of the first ceramic systems in which it was demonstrated that the mechanical properties could be tailored using careful control of composition, powder processing and thermal treatment. For the improved mechanical properties to be captured in zirconia-based or containing ceramics, control of the tetragonal to monoclinic transformation is required. Through microstructural control, zirconia-based ceramics can be tailored to form some of the strongest and toughest ceramics yet developed. By carefully controlling the use of various dopants (alloying additions), a variety of microstructures can be produced all of which may exhibit transformation toughening. While success in capturing the benefits of transformation toughening relies on adequate powder processing techniques, this review is restricted to outlining the phase control and behaviour that make zirconia and its alloys such a scientifically fascinating and rewarding system for study and a commercially appealing ceramic material