Constitutive modeling of the densification of PZT ceramics Original Research Article

In the present work, sintering constitutive models were employed to investigate the high-temperature densification behavior of undoped stoichiometric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics with perovskite structure. The constitutive models used were based on classical grain-boundary diffusion and interface reaction, and also the coupled mechanism of the two processes. PZT ceramics were fabricated and the calcination and sintering of the materials were discussed. Using the constitutive models employed and the experimental results obtained, the activation energy for densification of the PZT ceramics investigated was determined as 390±30 KJ/mol. It was noted that the coupled mechanism of grain-boundary diffusion and interface reaction was the controlling process during the densification of the materials investigated.