Toughened ceramics, or bridging ceramics, are being developed in an attempt
to widen the application base of traditional ceramics, which are brittle and have low
resistance to crack extension. The crack growth resistance of these extrinsically
toughened ceramics has been shown to increase with crack length, and unlike
traditional ceramics,...
The effect of ambient environment on the fatigue behavior of two Zr-Ti-Cu-Ni-Be bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) is examined in the present study. The first metallic glass, Zr₄₄Ti₁₁Ni₁₀Cu₁₀Be₂₅, was tested to establish the presence of an environmental effect in the fatigue growth curve measured in ambient air. Fatigue growth curves produced...
Because of its attractive material properties like high hardness, high toughness, and excellent high temperature strength, materials like silicon nitride are becoming more common for use in high performance applications. However, there have been limited studies of the fatigue behavior of small cracks in silicon nitride and other materials toughened...
Much recent research has focused on the development lead-free perovskite piezoelectrics as environmentally compatible alternatives to lead zirconate titanate (PZT). Two main categories of lead free perovskite piezoelectric ceramic systems were investigated as potential replacements to lead zirconate titanate (PZT) for actuator devices. First, solid solutions based on Li, Ta,...
Piezoelectric materials have been widely used in electromechanical actuators, sensors, and ultrasonic transducers. Among these materials, lead zirconate titanate Pb(Zr[subscript 1‐x]Ti[subscript x])O₃ (PZT) has been primarily investigated due to its excellent piezoelectric properties. However, environmental concerns due to the toxicity of PbO have led to investigations into alternative materials systems....
The lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) solid solution system is currently the workhorse of piezoelectric-based microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) research. Among bulk materials it is known to be one of the strongest piezoelectrics, with extremely high piezoelectric coefficients and electro-mechanical coupling factors. Reproducing these exceptional qualities in thin film form, however, requires precise tuning...