A Novel Extrusion-Based Additive Manufacturing Process for Ceramic Parts

An extrusion-based additive manufacturing process, called the Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion (CODE) process, for producing three-dimensional ceramic components with near theoretical density is introduced in this paper. In this process, an aqueous paste of ceramic particles with a very low binder content (<1 vol%) is extruded through a moving nozzle at room temperature. After a layer is deposited, it is surrounded by oil (to a level just below the top surface of most recent layer) to preclude non-uniform evaporation from the sides. Infrared radiation is then used to partially, and uniformly, dry the just-deposited layer so that the yield stress of the paste increases and the part maintains its shape. The same procedure is repeated for every layer until part fabrication is completed. Several sample parts for various applications were produced using this process and their properties were obtained. The results indicate that the proposed method enables fabrication of large, dense ceramic parts with complex geometries.

[1]  S. Danforth.  Fused Deposition of Ceramics: A New Technique for the Rapid Fabrication of Ceramic Components , 1995 .

[2]  A. Safari,et al.  Processing of piezocomposites by fused deposition technique , 1996, ISAF '96. Proceedings of the Tenth IEEE International Symposium on Applications of Ferroelectrics.

[3]  M. Leu,et al.  Hybrid Extrusion Force-Velocity Control Using Freeze-Form Extrusion Fabrication for Functionally Graded Material Parts , 2013 .

[4]  Anthony C. Mulligan,et al.  Solid Freebody Forming of Ceramics from Polymerizable Slurry , 1994 .

[6]  Robert G. Landers,et al.  Adaptive Extrusion Force Control of Freeze-Form Extrusion Fabrication Processes , 2010 .

[7]  G. Franks,et al.  Avoiding "mud" cracks during drying of thin films from aqueous colloidal suspensions. , 2007, Journal of colloid and interface science.

[8]  E. Saiz,et al.  On the structural, mechanical, and biodegradation properties of HA/β-TCP robocast scaffolds. , 2013, Journal of biomedical materials research. Part B, Applied biomaterials.

[9]  Ang Li,et al.  Freeze-Form Extrusion Fabrication of Functionally Graded Material Composites using Zirconium Carbide and Tungsten , 2012 .

[10]  Stephen C. Danforth,et al.  Fabrication of Piezoelectric Ceramic/Polymer Composite Transducers Using Fused Deposition of Ceramics , 2000 .

[11]  M. Leu,et al.  Freeze-form extrusion fabrication of functionally graded materials , 2012 .

[12]  P. Greil,et al.  Robocasting of alumina hollow filament lattice structures , 2013 .

[13]  Scott McMillin,et al.  Selective Laser Sintering and Fused Deposition Modeling Processes For Functional Ceramic Parts , 1995 .

[14]  W. Clegg,et al.  Cracking During Lateral Drying of Alumina Suspensions , 2006 .

[15]  M. Cima,et al.  High green density ceramic components fabricated by the slurry-based 3DP process , 1997 .

[16]  Ahmad Safari,et al.  Solid freeform fabrication of piezoelectric sensors and actuators , 2006 .

[17]  Hugh B. Denham,et al.  Mechanical behavior of robocast alumina , 1998 .

[18]  Ming-Chuan Leu,et al.  Adaptive rastering algorithm for freeform extrusion fabrication processes , 2015 .

[19]  M. Leu,et al.  Freeze Extrusion Fabrication of 13-93 Bioactive Glass Scaffolds for Repair and Regeneration of Load-bearing Bones , 2011 .

[20]  John W. Halloran,et al.  Freeform Fabrication of Ceramics via Stereolithography , 2005 .

[21]  Noshir A. Langrana,et al.  Microstructural Characterization and Mechanical Properties of Si3N4 Formed by Fused Deposition of Ceramics , 2008 .

[22]  M. Leu,et al.  EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE ON AQUEOUS FREEFORM EXTRUSION FABRICATION , 2015 .

[23]  Thierry Chartier,et al.  3D fine scale ceramic components formed by ink-jet prototyping process , 2005 .

[24]  M. Leu,et al.  Dispersion of zirconium diboride in an aqueous, high-solids paste , 2007 .

[25]  Scott McMillin,et al.  Desktop manifacturing : LOM vs pressing , 1994 .

[26]  J. Chevalier,et al.  Ceramics and ceramic coatings in orthopaedics , 2015 .

[27]  Robert G. Landers,et al.  Extrusion based additive manufacturing using Explicit Model Predictive Control , 2016, 2016 American Control Conference (ACC).

[28]  J. Cesarano,et al.  ROBOCASTING PROVIDES MOLDLESS FABRICATION FROM SLURRY DEPOSITION , 1998 .

[29]  Noshir A. Langrana,et al.  Structural quality of parts processed by fused deposition , 1996 .

[30]  R. C. Chiu.  Drying of granular ceramic films , 1991 .

[31]  J. Cesarano,et al.  Direct Ink Writing of Three‐Dimensional Ceramic Structures , 2006 .

[32]  Kohei Narisada,et al.  Light Pollution Handbook , 2004 .

[33]  M. Belmonte,et al.  Geometrically Complex Silicon Carbide Structures Fabricated by Robocasting , 2012 .

[34]  M. Leu,et al.  Extrusion-on-demand methods for high solids loading ceramic paste in freeform extrusion fabrication , 2017 .

[35]  Robert G. Landers,et al.  Aqueous-Based Extrusion of High Solids Loading Ceramic Pastes: Process Modeling and Control , 2009 .

[36]  M. Cima,et al.  Drying of Granular Ceramic Films: I, Effect of Processing Variables on Cracking Behavior , 1993 .

[37]  Peter Greil,et al.  Additive Manufacturing of Ceramic‐Based Materials , 2014 .

[38]  Mohsen A. Jafari,et al.  A novel system for fused deposition of advanced multiple ceramics , 2000 .

[39]  J. Lombardi,et al.  Advances in the Fabrication of Functionally Graded Materials Using Extrusion Freeform Fabrication , 1997 .

[40]  M. Rahaman.  Ceramic Processing and Sintering , 1995 .

[41]  J. Lewis,et al.  Concentrated hydroxyapatite inks for direct-write assembly of 3-D periodic scaffolds. , 2005, Biomaterials.

[42]  Paul Calvert,et al.  The extrusion freeforming of functional ceramic prototypes , 2000 .

[43]  F. Lange,et al.  Chemical Solution Routes to Single-Crystal Thin Films , 1996 .

[44]  S. Sofie,et al.  Freeze Casting of Aqueous Alumina Slurries with Glycerol , 2004 .