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Martensitic Nucleation in Small ZrO2 Particles
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 February 2011
Abstract
Small ZrO2 particles were studied by in-situ transmission electron microscopy and the types of events which led to martensitic nucleation were recorded. These metastable particles were single crystals of several hundred nanometers size and were supported on a carbon thin film but were otherwise free from any constraint. At room temperature, they are more than 1200°C below the equilibrium temperature. After dislocation loops were injected in-situ into the originally defect-free particles, a critical loop size was found beyond which the particle transformed spontaneously. It was also observed that Hertzian contacts between two particles led to martensitic nucleation and spontaneous transformation. These results were satisfactorily rationalized by ab-initio theoretical analysis.
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- Copyright © Materials Research Society 1987
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