Abstract
Computational studies have been conducted for the phenomenon of 'transformation toughening' which is observed in zirconia-containing ceramics such as PSZ(partially stabilized zirconia). The new constitutive modeling for transformation plasticity in which a stress history-dependent internal state variable is employed has been applied to the finite element analysis of stationary and growing macro-cracks under static and dynamic loading. The transformation toughening effect is discussed, along with the influence on it of the size of the transformed damage zone and the various parameters in the equations to be solved, through the observation of the behavior of the general crack tip energy release parameter, the T*-integral.