Sintering of ultra-fine tetragonal yttria-stabilized zirconia ceramics

High-frequency induction heated sintering (HFIHS) is utilized to consolidate ultra-fine grain tetragonal zirconia stabilized with 3 mol%Y2O3 (3Y-SZ) ceramics. Densification to near theoretical density in a relatively short time can be accomplished using this method. Samples of 3Y-SZ with a relative density of up to 99.5% and an average grain size of about 170 nm could be obtained by sintering at 950 °C for 5 min under a pressure of 100 MPa pressure. The influence of sintering temperature and mechanical pressure on the final density and grain size of the sintered products was investigated. The sintered materials had fracture toughness and hardness values of 4.4 MPa m1/2 and 10.7 GPa, respectively.