Properties of Partially Stabilized Zirconia Components Fabricated by the Ceramic On-demand Extrusion Process

The Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion (CODE) process is a novel additive manufacturing process for fabricating dense ceramic components from aqueous pastes of high solids loading. In this study, 3 mol% Y2O3 stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystal (3Y-TZP) parts were fabricated using the CODE process. The parts were then dried in a humidity controlled environmental chamber and sintered under atmospheric pressure. Mechanical properties of the sintered parts were examined using ASTM standard test techniques, including density, Young’s modulus, flexural strength, Weibull modulus, fracture toughness and Vickers hardness. The microstructure was analyzed, and grain size was measured using scanning electron microscopy. The results compared with those from Direct Inkjet Printing, Selective Laser Sintering, and other extrusion-based processes indicated that zirconia parts produced by CODE exhibit superior mechanical properties among the additive manufacturing processes. Several example parts were produced to demonstrate CODE’s capability for fabricating geometrically complex ceramic parts.