Results show that annealing treatments can significantly increase the indentation strength.
The annealing atmosphere has a profound influence on the extent of crack healing and the degree of strength recovery. Scanning electron microscopic observation has shown that healing of indentation cracks occurs in both environments, with the greater degree of healing occurring during annealing in air. Nonsubscribers to the Journal of the American Ceramic Society may purchase single paper copies of articles, to be faxed or mailed, from our Ceramic Information Center . The American Ceramic Society. All rights reserved.