Development of an optical, non-destructive technique for inspection of Zirconia ceramic parts

Yttria-Stabilized Tetragonal Zirconia Polycrystal (Y-TZP) as a high toughness, high strength and biocompatible material can be found in many medical applications where customized part manufacturing is required. Current machining techniques, including mechanical grinding [1] and (developed within our group) laser processing [2–4], may introduce cracking, resulting in reduced strength. Uncertainty of the exact shape, size and distribution of flaws introduced during manufacturing or machining require a reliable testing technique. In this paper we present a novel mid-infrared transmission technique for flaw detection in zirconia.