Fabrication of complex-shaped zirconia ceramic parts via a DLP- stereolithography-based 3D printing method

• Published in: Ceramics international Vol. 44; no. 3; pp. 3412 - 3416
• Main Authors: He, Rongxuan, Liu, Wei, Wu, Ziwei, An, Di, Huang, Meipeng, Wu, Haidong, Jiang, Qiangguo, Ji, Xuanrong, Wu, Shanghua, Xie, Zhipeng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 15.02.2018
• Subjects: Additive manufacturing; B. Mechanical properties; D. ZrO2; Digital light processing; Stereolithography; B. Mechanical properties; Digital light processing; Stereolithography; Additive manufacturing; D. ZrO2
• ISSN: 0272-8842; 1873-3956
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2017.11.135

In this work, a stereolithography-based method of 3D printing was successfully used to fabricate a complex-shaped triangular zirconia cutting tool with a tool withdrawal groove and a honeycomb ceramic component. The sintered bodies displayed significant shrinkage after sintering, with the maximum shrinkage being 35.26%. The XRD pattern indicated that the crystalline phase of the parts was the t-ZrO2 phase, while SEM characterization revealed that the sintered bodies were composed of densely packed submicron-grade grains, without any discernible pores. The density of the parts was measured as 97.14% via Archimedes’ water displacement method, which is consistent with the results of SEM characterization. Additionally, the measured Vickers hardness and fracture toughness of the fabricated parts were 13.0597GPa and 6.0380MPam1/2, respectively. These values are close to the structural properties of common zirconia ceramics prepared by conventional approaches. Hence, a novel DLP-stereolithography-based 3D printing process for the fabrication of complex and dense zirconia ceramic parts has been proposed in this work.