Development of nanocrystalline wear-resistant Y-TZP ceramics

The present contribution reports some interesting and new results obtained while developing yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia (Y-TZP) using spark plasma sintering (SPS). The experimental results clearly showed that ZrO₂-nanoceramics with high hardness(∼14.5 GPa) can be processed at a lower sintering temperature of 1200°C in a short time (5 min). Another important result is that the newly developed Y-TZP nanoceramics, compared with the conventional sintered TZP, exhibit better fretting wear resistance against bearing steel. The intergranular fracture and the grain pullout were observed as the major wear mechanisms of the zirconia nanoceramics.