Hydrothermal-aging-induced lattice distortion in yttria-stabilized zirconia using EBSD technique

•The hydrothermal-aging induced lattice distortion in YSZ was investigated by XRD and EBSD.•The band-pass filter is introduced to improve the pattern after coating by amorphous layer in non-conductive materials.•The phase-transformation behavior reveals an exponential growth curve which is described using KJMA law.•The distortion strains were 7.98 % and −5.03 % at the a- and c-axes which were investigated by EBSD.•The application of Kikuchi bands to determine lattice distortion in hydrothermally aged YSZ.