Continuum Mechanical Approach to Sintering of Nanocrystalline Zirconia

Nanocrystalline 3 mol % yttria-stabilized zirconia was sinter-forged isothermally under varying external uniaxial stresses. The applied uniaxial stresses were relatively low, compared to the intrinsic sintering stress of the material studied. Uniaxial sintering stresses and uniaxial viscosities were experimentally determined as function of density by means of a continuum mechanical approach which involves measuring the sintering rate of a free-sintered specimen, and a specimen sintered under the application of an external uniaxial stress. The uniaxial viscosity increased strongly with density only in the final stage sintering regime. The magnitude of the uniaxial sintering stress exhibited a decrease with density