This paper investigates the fatigue crack growth behaviours of 3 mol% Y2O3 partially stabilized zirconia (Y-PSZ). Stable fatigue crack growth rate under tension-tension loading was measured from the indentation flaw under three-point bending. The influence of stress ratio on the fatigue crack growth rate was also studied The results show that the relation between fatigue crack growth rate and effective stress intensity factor for Y-PSZ can be expressed as: dc/dN = C(K-eff)(n). Under a given K-eff level, the fatigue crack growth rate decreases with increasing stress ratio for Y-PSZ ceramics. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Limited.
