Internal stresses at the crystalline scale in textured ZrO 2 films before lateral cracking

Abstract Zirconium oxide layers are submitted to internal stresses that play a role in damage of the layer. Lateral cracking is often observed during Zr alloys oxidation. In this paper, we investigated the influence of the microstresses at the crystalline scale on the lateral cracking within a growing oxide on a plane substrate. A parametric study was carried out taking into account the crystallographic texture of the oxide and the presence of a tetragonal zirconia at the metal–oxide interface. Macroscopic computations and polycrystalline aggregate computations were performed. The result indicating the (1 0 6 ¯ ) fiber texture as the most favorable was recovered. It was found that under macroscopic compressive stresses parallel to the plane metal–oxide interface, positive microstresses perpendicular to the interface develops. They can trigger the lateral cracking and the phenomenon is promoted by the presence of tetragonal zirconia at the metal–oxide interface.