This study measured the Vickers hardness of ceramics, and Weibull statistical analysis was used to evaluate the reliability ofthe measured data. The specimens were heat-treated for 1, 5 and 10 hrs at temperatures of 1073 K and 1173 K, and werecorroded for 400 hours in acidic and alkaline solutions. The specimens were as follows: yttria-stabilized ZrO2 monolithicceramics, ZrO2/SiC composite ceramics with SiC added to improve crack healing ability and ZrO2/SiC/TiO2 compositeceramics with TiO2 added for the increase of strength. The 2-parameter Weibull probability distribution can be applied to theVickers hardness. In the Weibull statistical analysis of the corroded ZrO2 composite ceramics, the shape parameters and scaleparameters can be used to determine the dispersion and to predict the strength / hardness.
Keywords: ZrO2 ceramics, Corrosion, Acidic solution, Alkaline solution, Vickers hardness, Weibull statistical analysis