Zirconia is a popular ceramic material used in industry, comprising 20% of the technical ceramics materials market. Zirconia together with alumina dominate the technical ceramics materials market, comprising almost 55% of the total market. Marvel Medtech Advanced Manufacturing offers zirconia ceramics additive manufacturing (AM) / 3D printing services using XJet’s Nano-Particle Jetting (NPJTM) technology. NPJ™ AM technology allows fabrication of zirconia ceramic parts with high resolution, smallest feature size and geometric complexity that cannot be made with legacy ceramics manufacturing approaches.
What is Zirconia Ceramic?
Zirconia is a type of advanced or technical ceramic material comprising zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) and typically a stabilizing agent. There are three primary types of zirconia ceramic – magnesia partially stabilized zirconia, Yttria partially stabilized zirconia, and fully stabilized zirconia. Zirconia ceramics are known for high mechanical strength and fracture toughness at room temperatures, plus high hardness for wear resistance and thermal and electrical resistivity. Zirconia ceramics are used for making sharp objects like knives, blades, scissors, or parts that require excellent toughness. At Marvel Medtech Advanced Manufacturing, we offer TZ-3Y zirconia ceramic, which is a commonly used industrial formulation of tetragonal zirconia partially stabilized with 3 mole percent Yttria (Y2O3).
Material Properties of Zirconia Ceramic
|
Property
|
Value
|
Units
|
|
Density
|
6.02
|
g/cc
|
|
Density
|
>99.5
|
%
|
|
Hardness
|
>12
|
GPa
|
|
Flexural Strength
|
830 -1050
|
MPa
|
|
Young’s Modulus
|
215
|
GPa
|
|
Fracture Toughness
|
13
|
MPa/m
|
|
Compressive Strength
|
2500
|
MPa
|
|
Thermal Conductivity
|
3
|
W/mK
|
|
Coefficient of Thermal Expansion
|
10 @40-400 oC
11 @40-800 oC |
ppm/oC E-6
|
|
Specific Heat Capacity
|
0.46
|
J/Kg°K
|
|
Sintering Temperature
|
1450 (2640)
|
°C (°F)
|
|
Volume Resistivity
|
20°C – 1.0E+12
300°C – 8.3E+06 500°C – 8.8E+06 |
Ω∙cm
|
|
Dielectric Strength
|
11
|
kV/mm
|
Parts Characteristics of AM (Additive Manufacturing) Zirconia Ceramics made with XJet NPJ™ Technology
|
Dimensional Tolerance: Dimensions ≤5cm
|
20-50 microns
|
|
Dimensional Tolerance: Dimensions >5cm
|
100 microns
|
|
Minimum Feature Size
|
200 Microns (Smaller may be achievable depending on part size and design)
|
|
Surface Roughness
|
N7-N9
|
|
Sintering Shrinkage
|
14.5% Linear, Isotropic
|
|
Print Tray Size
|
140mm x 500mm
|
Marvel Medtech Advanced Manufacturing’s advanced technical ceramics additive manufacturing/3D printing capabilities enable a new level of design freedom that allows us to serve clients across the aerospace, medical, electrical, energy, automotive and other demanding industry applications.
Contact Us
At Marvel Medtech Advanced Manufacturing, we have acquired highly specialized insights, knowledge and capabilities in the application and use of the XJet NPJ™ system for demanding technical ceramics AM applications. Please contact us at 1-877-345-6261 or 1-608-688-0868 with your questions about our technical ceramics AM capabilities and services. Or you can Request a Quote for Your Project from our website to receive a secure file upload link.