Mechanical relaxation of 4 wt% Y2O3-ZrO2 tetragonal single crystals

The mechanical relaxation was examined by a resonance piezoelectric method for a 3.5 wt % Y₂O₃-ZrO₂ polycrystal and 4 wt% Y₂O₃-ZrO₂ tetragonal single crystals with orientations in the 100 and 111 directions. The relaxation was observed for the 111-oriented crystal, but not for the 100-crystal. The results indicated that the relaxation was active only for the elastic compliance, S₄₄, and inactive for (s ₁₁–s ₁₂). The amplitude of the anelastic relaxation measured for the polycrystalline and the 111-crystal body was 4.2 × 10^–12 m²N^–1 and 6.7×10^–12 m² N^–1, respectively. An observed broad relaxation peak suggested that complex processes exist even in single crystals.