Study of microstructure evolution during final stage of sintering of advanced ceramic materials

Abstract

This diploma thesis deals with the study of microstructure development during the final stage of sintering of two zirconia based ceramic materials (tetragonal ZrO2 doped with 3 mol% of Y2O3 and cubic ZrO2 doped with 8 mol% of Y2O3). Conventional, microwave and SPS sintering methods were used. Achieved relative densities and mean grain sizes were evaluated for sintered materials. It was found that the non-conventional sintering methods are capable of rapid processing of ceramics with improved microstructure compared to conventional sintering