MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF FERROELECTRIC CERAMIC NANOCOMPOSITES.

The micro- and nano-indentation techniques and compression tests were employed to determine the mechanical properties of PZT based composites dispersed with Al2O3 nano-particles for comparison. Compared with the reduced modulus, the nano-hardness, which exhibited indentation size effect (ISE), seemed to be more sensitive to the indentation depth. The true hardness values were deduced, based on the modified proportional specimen resistance (PSR) model, from the depth sensing machine and micro-indenter. Both the micro- and nano-hardness of the nano-composites confirmed that the hardness was best improved by addition of 0.5wt% of Al2O3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]