Powder Characteristics on the Rheological Performance of Resin-based Zirconia Suspension for Stereolithography

As for ceramic stereolithography technique, the preparation of suitable resin-based ceramic slurry is of primary importance. In this study, the effects of powder characteristics such as specific surface area, particle size and distribution, particle morphology on the rheological behavior of zirconia resin-based suspensions were investigated intensively. Results show that the specific surface area of the powder is the most important factor affecting slurry viscosity. Choosing low specific surface area and quasi-spherical shaped powder is more likely to obtain low viscosity slurries. In addition, the influence of solid loading on the flow behavior were also studied using Krieger-Dougherty model. Zirconia samples with the relative density of (97.83 +/- 0.33)% were obtained after sintering at 1550 V. No obvious abnormal grain growth in the microstructure of the sintered body is observed. Results indicate that after the optimization of the processing parameters with the help of rheology characterization, complex-shaped high-quality zirconia parts can be obtained using the stereolithography technique.