3. Wear mechanisms of ceramics

3.1 Factors triggering wear of ceramics

Ceramics are not immune to several mechanisms that initiate the transition to severe wear, such as :

• phase transitions (e.g. with ZrO ₂ ) ;

• intergranular stress due to the elastic and thermophysical anisotropies of the crystal (e.g. with Si ₃ N ₄ , Al ₂ O ₃ ) ;

• sublimation of oxides (e.g. with WC, WO ₃ ) ;

• the formation of glassy...