Fracture toughness of 3Y-TZP ceramic measured by the Chevron-Notch Beam method: A round-robin study.

OBJECTIVE: This interlaboratory round robin test investigated the robustness of the Chevron-Notch Beam (CNB) test method and the effect of the processing and testing variations on the fracture toughness of a dental 3Y-TZP ceramic. METHODS: The round robin test was performed precisely following the procedures recommended in ISO 24370:2005 and applied on a commercial 3Y-TZP ceramic (product information). A total of 335 test specimens with dimensions 3×4 x 45 mm³ was equally distributed among 10 participating laboratories of varying experience in fracture toughness testing. A standard operating procedure was defined with either narrow processing tolerances or alternative (wider) processing tolerances (as proposed in ISO 24370). Fracture toughness data (series 2) was analyzed using one way ANOVA followed by post hoc Tukey HSD test and 95% Confidence Intervals (CI) were computed (p < 0.05). A further, preceding round-robin (series 1) test was conducted with - more possible variations of test conditions regarding CNB notch processing and storage conditions. Those results are summarized in the supplement and discussed with the actual ISO 24370 test. RESULTS: Fracture toughness of the 3Y-TZP ceramic material, summarized over all laboratories was measured to KIc = 4.48 ± 0.11 MPam0.5 for the standard processing tolerance and KIc = 4.55 ± 0.31 MPam0.5 for the alternative tolerance. The results revealed a significant influence of cutting offset and notch geometry on KIc when using CNB method. The test medium also has a significant influence on KIc in terms of reduced fracture toughness under the influence of water. With defined testing conditions the number of valid tests and reduced standard deviation increased. In case of strictly following such standard operation procedures, KIc can be determined with high reliability. There is no difference between the involved laboratories, but significant influence of cutting offset on KIC was observed. SIGNIFICANCE: The CNB method is suitable method for determination of KIc on fine-grained ceramics such as 3Y-TZP ceramic. By using tighter tolerances for processing and testing, i.e. closely following the ISO 24370 procedure, a highly-precise evaluation of fracture toughness with low data variation is achievable. The information of the storage medium should always be reported along with the data. CNB fracture toughness testing is an alternative method compared to Single-edge V-notch beam (SEVNB), especially for fine-grained ceramics.

Macroscopic Superlow Friction of Steel and Diamond-Like Carbon Lubricated with a Formanisotropic 1,3-Diketone.

Energy dissipation due to friction and wear is reducing the energy efficiency and reliability of mechanical systems. Thus, great efforts are being made to minimize friction for technical applications. In our present work, we investigate the tribological behavior of stainless steel 100Cr6 with a-C:H and a-C:H:Si coating lubricated with a surface-active formanisotropic 1,3-diketone. The results show that superlow friction can be achieved on the macroscale using a steel 100Cr6 self pairing (COF ∼ 0.005) and with 100Cr6 in combination with a-C:H coating (COF ∼ 0.008). Furthermore, the replacement of steel with a-C:H coating leads to a considerable decrease of wear. The reduced COF arises from the chemical interaction of the lubricant with the surface and nascent iron ions. It was found that interfacial parameters correlate with tribological results. In addition, the alignment of the formanisotropic molecules in the tribological contact at thin-film lubrication leads to an anisotropic viscosity with a minimum shear resistance in sliding direction. Atomistic simulation of tribochemical interactions was conducted to derive a friction model based on the thin-film lubrication theory. This investigation indicates the potential to substantially reduce friction and wear using this fluid in real technical applications.