Plastic deformation-driven grain coarsening in nanocrystalline Gd2Zr2O7 ceramics by nanoindentation

Unique deformation mechanisms are responsible for the superior mechanical properties of nanocrystalline materials. However, unlike in nanocrystalline metals, questions remain regarding the underlying microstructural mechanisms governing plastic deformation in nanocrystalline ceramics. In the present study, nanoindentation and postmortem electron microscopy analysis were carried out on the transparent nanocrystalline Gd2Zr2O7 ceramic. Apart from shear bands led from grain boundary (GB) sliding, experimental observations confirm that deformation-driven grain coarsening is controlled by grain rotation accompanying the GB migration mechanism.