Comparison of neutron diffraction and Raman spectroscopic studies of the ferroelastic behavior of ceria-stabilized zirconia at elevated temperatures

Measurements of coercive stress for ferroelastic switching were made for 18-mol% ceria-stabilized zirconia under compressive loading using both neutron diffraction and Raman spectroscopy to validate the accuracy of those made by Raman against standard neutron diffraction measurements. Good agreement was observed between the two techniques and as a result, Raman scattering was identified as an effective technique for measuring coercive stresses in ferroelastic ceramics. In addition to absolute measurements in coercive stress, it was confirmed that coercive stress remains invariant in neutron diffraction measurements ranging from room temperature to 1200 °C. This suggests measurements of coercive stress measured using Raman spectroscopic techniques at room temperature are relevant to toughening mechanisms active at turbine operating conditions.