Surface toughness of silicon nitride bioceramics: II, Comparison with commercial oxide materials

Raman microprobe-assisted indentation, a micromechanics method validated in a companion paper, was used to compare the surface toughening behaviors of silicon nitride (Si3N4) and alumina-based bioceramics employed in joint arthroplasty (i.e., monolithic alumina, Al2O3, and yttria-stabilized zirconia (ZrO2)-toughened alumina, ZTA). Quantitative assessments of microscopic stress fields both ahead and behind the tip of Vickers indentation cracks propagated under increasing indentation loads were systematically made using a Raman microprobe with spatial resolution on the order of a single micrometer. Concurrently, crack opening displacement (COD) profiles were monitored on the same microcracks screened by Raman spectroscopy. The Raman eye clearly visualized different mechanisms operative in toughening Si3N4 and ZTA bioceramics (i.e., crack-face bridging and ZrO2 polymorphic transformation, respectively) as compared to the brittle behavior of monolithic Al2O3. Moreover, emphasis was placed on assessing not only the effectiveness but also the durability of such toughening effects when the biomaterials were aged in a hydrothermal environment. A significant degree of embrittlement at the biomaterial surface was recorded in the transformation-toughened ZTA, with the surface toughness reduced by exposure to the hydrothermal environment. Conversely, the Si3N4 biomaterial experienced a surface toughness value independent of hydrothermal attack. Crack-face bridging thus appears to be a durable surface toughening mechanism for biomaterials in joint arthroplasty.