Densification and Mechanical Properties of Y-TZP with Iron Oxide Additive

Abstract

The effects of iron oxide additions (up to 5 wt%) on the sintering characteristics and mechanical properties of 3 mol% Y-TZP ceramics were investigated. Prepared bar samples were sintered at 1400^oC. The study revealed that the level of dopant did not significantly affect the tetragonal phase stability. However, the bulk density, Vicker′s hardness and the Young′s modulus were found to decreased with increasing level of iron oxide. In contrast, the K_Ic value was found to increased with increasing amounts of dopant and maximum fracture toughness of 7.64 MPam^1/2 was measured for Y-TZP containing 5 wt% iron oxide.