Fabrication of complex-shaped zirconia ceramic parts via a DLP-stereolithography-based 3D printing method

In this work, a stereolithography-based method of 3D printing was successfully used to fabricate a complex shaped triangular zirconia cutting tool with a tool withdrawal groove and a honeycomb ceramic component. The sintered bodies displayed significant shrinkage after sintering, with the maximum shrinkage being 35.26%. The XRD pattern indicated that the crystalline phase of the parts was the t-Zro(2) phase, while SEM characterization revealed that the sintered bodies were composed of densely packed submicron-grade grains, without any discernible pores. The density of the parts was measured as 97.14% via Archimedes' water displacement method, which is consistent with the results of SEM characterization. Additionally, the measured Vickers hardness and fracture toughness of the fabricated parts were 13.0597 GPa and 6.0380 MPa m(1/2), respectively. These values are close to the structural properties of common zirconia ceramics prepared by conventional approaches. Hence, a novel DLP-stereolithography-based 3D printing process for the fabrication of complex and dense zirconia ceramic parts has been proposed in this work.