De-agglomeration kinetics of feedstocks with granule tetragonal zirconia polycrystalline powder.pdf

De-Agglomeration Kinetics of Feedstocks with Granule Tetragonal Zirconia Polycrystalline Powder Rong-Yuan Wu and Wen-Cheng J. Wei*,w Institute of Materials Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, 106 Taiwan This study establishes the relationship between homogeneity of tetragonal zirconia polycrystalline (TZP) feedstocks and the kneading time in order to understand the kneading energy ad- sorption during the de-agglomeration period of pre-existing ce- ramic granules. Two spray-dried Y-TZP powders with different compress strengths were investigated using torque rheometer and transmission optical microscopy. Several properties, kneading torque (T), Casson viscosity (l), Reynolds number (Re), and dis- persive index (Ds) of the feedstocks were introduced, and moni- tored as a function of kneading time. Optimal processing windows were identified from the dependence of dispersive index with a power number (Np). The best shear-kneading procedure was pro- posed in consideration of best feedstock homogeneity and shortest kneading time. One homogenous feedstock and two comparable cases were prepared for subsequent injection molding, debinding, sintering, and mechanical testing. The fracture strength of sinte- ring parts by a partially homogeneous feedstock can be improved from 520 to 680 MPa by a homogeneous feedstock. I. Introduction MIXING of various ingredients is very important step in ce-ramic powder processing. In order to achieve better ho- mogeneity, the volume of binders interchange with the powders used in precision ceramic injection molding (CIM) has gained lots of research efforts in the past decades.1,2 The resulted pow- der/binder packing conditions greatly affect the properties of ceramic parts after sintering. The agglomeration of ultra-fine ceramic powder, one of the processing defects, may result from the inter-particle attractive force and profoundly influence the mechanical properties of the sintered parts. Ceramic granules may also be