Cavity growth simulation for superplastic deformation of tetragonal Zirconia polycrystal, 3Y‐TZP

A simulation based on cavity number ‐ radius distribution obtained from a scanning electron microscopy analysis was made to consider cavity growth rate and its mechanism during superplastic deformation of a tetragonal zirconia polycrystal (3Y‐TZP). It is found that (1) newly formed cavities grow very rapidly in an early stage of their growth process and then the growth rate becomes gradually slow with the increase in cavity size, and (2) the cavity growth process in the 3Y‐TZP is governed by the diffusion‐controlled mechanism.