Sintering of calcia-stabilized zirconia using an extended arc thermal plasma reactor

Abstract

Commercial-grade zirconia powder (average, 10-mu m particle size) compacts with 5 wt% of calcia have been sintered (batchwise) in a short time using an indigenously made low-cost extended are thermal plasma heating (EATPH) system with varying plasma reactor operating parameters such as plasma power, plasmagen gas flow rate, and sintering time. XRD, SEM, laser particle size analyzer, and density studies were carried out to evaluate the structural, morphological, and physical properties of the sintered samples. It is observed from the above studies that the sintered products are fully monophasic and stabilized to the cubic system with 92% of the theoretical density in 15 min. A uniform grain size with no runaway grain growth occurred during sintering by our EATPH technique. The pore-grain structure mechanism in relation to the grain growth and density of the materials is discussed.