Shrinkage-rate controlled flash sintering for 3–10 mol %Y₂O₃-doped ZrO₂ polycrystals

Abstract

Shrinkage-rate controlled flash (SCF) sintering using alternative current electric field was systematically performed for 3–10 mol % Y₂O₃-doped ZrO₂. As results, the uniformly densified compacts with about 99 % relative densities could be produced at furnace temperatures of about 754–781 °C for about 30 min as SCF-regime irrespective of Y concentration, while the achieved densities were limited by conventional flash sintering. The shrinkage-rates during SCF-sintering were found to be enhanced in lower temperature range comparing those during thermal-sintering. The enhancement of shrinkage-rates in lower temperature range observed in SCF-sintering is possibly related to the reduction of apparent activation energy of sintering under electric fields.