Fracture simulation for zirconia toughened alumina microstructure

International audience; Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to describe finite element modelling for fracture and fatigue behaviour of zirconia toughened alumina microstructures. // Design/methodology/approach - A two-dimensional finite element model is developed with an actual Al2O3-10 vol% ZrO2 microstructure. A bilinear, time-independent cohesive zone law is implemented for describing fracture behaviour of grain boundaries. Simulation conditions are similar to those found at contact between a head and a cup of hip prosthesis. Residual stresses arisen from the mismatch of thermal coefficient between grains are determined. Then, effects of a micro-void and contact stress magnitude are investigated with models containing residual stresses. For the purpose of simulating fatigue behaviour, cyclic loadings are applied to the models. // Findings - Results show that crack density is gradually increased with increasing magnitude of contact stress or number of fatigue cycles. It is also identified that a micro-void brings about the increase of crack density rate. // Social implications - This paper is the first step for predicting the lifetime of ceramic implants. The social implications would appear in the next few years about health issues. // Originality/value - This proposed finite element method allows describing fracture and fatigue behaviours of alumina-zirconia microstructures for hip prosthesis, provided that a microstructure image is available.