Abstract
Microwave sintering of ZrO2-3mol%Y2O3 green bodies formed by slip casting was studied using a 2.45GHz microwave in a cylindrical cavity. The onion-shape crack was observed after microwave sintering without SiC plate, but crack free sintering bodies have been obtained by microwave sintering with SiC plates. Final density was about 5.5g/cm 3 (relative density: about 90%) in the sintering temperature range of 1150-1450°C. By SEM observation, it was seen that the sintered body had pore free structure near surface, but there were many pores in inner part. A reason of low final density is that many pores remained in inner part since the shrinkage of surface part proceeded at the first stage of microwave sintering.
