Compression behavior of ceramic powders by inductive plasma sphero process

Strength of ceramic powders can be affected by the powders' structure. In this study, two typical structured yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) powders, agglomerated and sintered, were tested in a micro compression machine. The results showed that the sintered powders exhibited much higher compressive strength than the agglomerated powders. It was also found that the strength of the agglomerated powders was independent on the particle size due to their uniform microstructure, while the sintered powders showed decreased strength with the increasing of particle size because they had lower level of sintering. Finite element analysis was performed which indicated that thinner shells trended to sustain higher tensile stress/strain than the thicker shells, so the larger particles with thinner shells were easier to break.