Wear behavior of additive manufactured zirconia

Abstract

Complete consolidation of ceramic particles is feasible for SLA, but print directionality is well acknowledged to be a source of structural anisotropy. By varying build direction of SLA zirconia specimens, pin-on-disk tests were carried out to evaluate any differences in wear behavior and phase composition with respect to laminar architecture. All combinations of horizontal and vertical pin-disk combinations demonstrated equivalent wear coefficients and phase transformation from monoclinic to tetragonal zirconia but do exhibit a nominal trend in run-in wear. Given that microstructural consolidation of AM ceramics is highly dependent on debind and/or sintering rather than print parameters the absence of anisotropy introduce by print parameters could benefit the application and development around AM ceramics.