Strengthening of Ceramics Surface by Crack Healing and Electron Beam Irradiation

New hybrid surface reinforcement consisting of crack healing and low energy electron beam irradiation has been proposed for structural ceramics. Crack healing was found to make surface cracks be innocuous. Low‐energy electron beam irradiation was found to significantly harden the treated subsurface layer, which includes the matrix layer near the surface as well as the partly or fully covered silica layer formed by the crack healing. Moreover, it was found not to break the improved fracture strength due to crack healing. These results suggest that the proposed surface reinforcement can actualize to manage the existence of surface cracks in structural ceramics.