Agenda

 Wrench test!
 Go over research paper assignment
 Test discussion
 Ansys installation – videos & pre-project homework
 Gear Train Project Assignment
 Ceramics Lecture

Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering

 MECH 4813/5813
Principles of Additive
Manufacturing
Ceramics

Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering

What is a Ceramic?
Definition:
1. A ceramic material is an inorganic, non-metallic, often crystalline
oxide, nitride or carbide material. Held together primarily by ionic or
covalent bonds
2. Ceramic materials are brittle, hard, strong in compression, weak
in shear and tension.
3. They withstand chemical erosion that occurs in other materials
subjected to acidic or caustic environments.
4. Generally can withstand very high temperatures, such as
temperatures that range from 1,000 °C to 1,600 °C (1,800 °F to
3,000 °F).

Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering

Ceramic Types
 Structural – high temp, load bearing
 Refractory – corrosion-resistant, insulating
 White wares – porcelain
 Glass
 Electrical – capacitors, insulators,
transducers
 Chemically Bonded – cement & concrete

Earliest forms: Pottery

3D printed ceramic lattice)
(clay hardened in a kiln)

Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering

Ceramics & AM
 Ceramic processing
involves multiple steps
 Traditionally they are made
from a powder into a green
shape, which is then
densified or sintered at
high temperatures.

The attraction of AM for this process is in the making of the “green shape”
AM approaches for other types of materials have been adapted to produce
high-quality, intricately shaped ceramics

Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering

AM Techniques for Ceramics
Additive Manufacturing techniques 1. Laser Assisted Sintering (SLS)
for ceramics can be generally 2. Extrusion (FDM)
organized into four categories 3. Polymerization (SLA)
4. Direct writing-based processes
(LOM)

Each of these categories have

subtypes, which we will cover in
detail.

Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering

 Polymerization
Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering
 SLA of Ceramics
SLA was first used to print polymers, however the technology
was adapted for use with ceramic materials in the 1990s (silica
and alumina powder in a UV-curable solution)

The basic idea:

 Ceramic particles are added to photo reactive polymers to form

a suspension
 The ceramic particles are cured with the photopolymer using a
UV laser
 Afterward, the remaining organic phase is removed by heat
treatment (baking)

Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering

Ceramic Solutions
 Should be homogenous and stable
 Have appropriate rheological (fluidic) behavior
 Viscosity should be similar to conventional SLA resins
 Ceramic suspension should be photoactive with high cure
depth and low cure width (for good resolution)
 The cured ceramic green part must have high density (prevent
crack formation, deformation, or significant shrinkage after
polymer removal)

 In order to have these properties, several ingredients must be

added to the mix

Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering

 The Making of a Ceramic Solution
Monomer (creates
polymers)

Dispersant Photoinitiator
(homogeneity) (catalyst)

Ceramic Powder Resin (epoxy, Diluent

(Alumina, etc.) etc.) (thinning)

Stable & Homogenous

Solution

Of these, one of the most important is the dispersant, which evenly distributes the
ceramic particles in the solution

Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering

 Rheology of the Solution
 Viscosity – ceramic solutions are generally higher viscosity
than regular SLA, however low viscosity is desired. The key is
making the appropriate blend of polymer, dispersant, and
diluent
 Change in viscosity – when the shear rate is increased, one
of 3 things can happen:
 Shear thinning (viscosity decreases)
 Shear thickening (viscosity increases)
 Shear immunity (stays the same – Newtonian fluid)

Shear thinning is desirable in SLA of

ceramics as it allows for fast movement
while maintaining low viscosity

Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering

 Formlabs 2

Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering

And now a word from our sponsor

Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering

Applications
 SLA of ceramic molds for investment casting is more efficient
and cost effective than traditional methods
 SLA is also used to process piezoelectric ceramics (such as
barium titanate) due to flexibility, efficiency and accuracy
 3D photonic crystals for telecommunication domain
applications: antennas, filters & resonators
Investment casting is coating a wax shell with a
ceramic, then melting the wax out leaving a ceramic
mold. The molten metal is then poured into the mold.

“Photonic crystals are periodic dielectric structures that have a band

gap that forbids propagation of a certain frequency range of light. This
property enables one to control light with amazing facility and produce
effects that are impossible with conventional optics” -MIT

Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering

 Future Developments
 The future of AM for ceramics is to increase the resolution,
repeatability and processing time
 Biocompatible ceramics have been made for biomedical
implants – tissue engineering scaffolds!

Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering

 Laser Sintering
Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering
 The Basics
 SLS of ceramics is much like that of polymers
 A pulsed 𝐶𝑂2 laser is used to fuse fine particles together

Process:
• The powder is preheated just
below the melting point/glass
transition temp
• The laser is directed onto the
powder bed to form the pattern
• The SLS processed part should
be kept long enough in the
chamber to cool down.

Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering

 Challenges & Types
 The main challenge with SLS of ceramics is the very high
temperatures required to melt
 More laser energy and longer cooling time are required – not
efficient or cost effective

There are 2 basic types of SLS for

ceramics:
Direct – ceramic powders are melted
or sintered directly
Indirect – an organic phase which acts
as a binder is used to manufacture
green parts. The organic phase is
then burned off in the curing phase

Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering

 Direct SLS of Ceramics
Powder based: a roller spreads a layer of
powder from feed bed to build bed (much
like polymers)

Slurry based: starts in a liquid state

Drawbacks:
Low packing density – could lead to
low density and crack formation
from thermal stresses.
Laser energy has to be very high
Large Dimensions are difficult
Limited range of materials
(homogenous slurry). This is fed in layers
directly to a build plate by a doctor blade or
spray deposition. This is then dried and
laser processed. Main advantage is a high
density.

Advantages:
No need for support material
Excellent for complex geometry
Fairly rapid production
Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering
 Indirect SLS of Ceramics
Indirect SLS can also be powder-based or slurry. In this process a binder is
directed onto the ceramic material, which creates the green shape. This
green shape is then cured.
• Requires time consuming post-
processing (e.g. binder removal and
sintering).
• Indirect AM processes are not suitable
for rapid production, as opposed to
Direct SLS which is fairly quick.
• Direct AM processes can produce
ceramic parts more rapidly compared to
indirect AM processes.
• However, the direct AM processes are
currently not able to produce as many
different types of ceramics as the
indirect AM processes

Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering

 Ink-Jet 3DP of Ceramics
Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering
 Overview
 Inkjet 3DP is a relatively fast, easy method of printing both
polymers and ceramics.
 In this technique, a regular ink-jet printhead sprays the binder
to the build powder layer.
 The printed layer is moved under the heater, allowing the
binder to dry. This is repeated until the part is completed

• These part have considerable porosity due to high friction between

particles, lack of external compression force and random
agglomeration
• Polymeric binders can be toxic, and not suitable for biological
applications
• Challenging post processing (de-powdering can lead to cracking
due to low density of the green part)

Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering

Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering
 Fused Deposition of Ceramics
Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering
 FDC History Still in its infancy, area of R&D!

 First introduced in 1991 by researchers at Rutgers University as a

modified FDM
 A filament of semi-solid thermoplastic mixture is used:
 Includes binder, plasticizer, and dispersant
 Ceramic is dispersed and mixed up to 50-65%

 Fed through rollers and liquefied, laid down in “roads” (rasters)

 Produces a lattice structure.

 Biggest obstacle – making the filament!

 Also difficult – removing all of the binder and organic components
without damaging the structure of the part.

Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering

 FDC

Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering

 Laminated Object
Manufacturing of Ceramics
Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering
 LOM for Ceramics
 Much like composite printing,
uses green ceramic tapes
 Multiple laminates are stacked to
manufacture a 3d object. Work
table, feeder (continuous roll of
tape.
 The adhesive on the bottom of the
sheet is bonded to the below
layer. A laser beam cuts the
outline of the part at each layer.
 A take up roll removes the waste
paper

Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering

 LOM Cont.
 Once a layer is cut, the excess layer is cut into cubes to
facilitate removal of excess material
 The process of removing this is called “decubing”
 The final green part is then cured to remove binder from the
tape layers

 This is a high-speed method, (however decubing can take

Ceramics Produced:
time)
Alumina
 Low operation cost LZSA glass
 Binder removal can cause warping and shrinkage
On

Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering

 Takeaways
 AM of ceramics is perhaps one of the most challenging of all
materials
 High melting points
 Low thermal shock resistance (cracking and warping)
 Inherent brittleness
 Large parts are almost impossible to densify

 Creation of the base material and the many parameters of the

printing process are significant challenges to be overcome.

Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering

 The Future
 Green part manufacturing is the primary use of AM in ceramics,
however the newer direct methods hold great promise

 Because of issues with large part cracking, the technology is

most suited to smaller parts or those inherently porous

 Long processing times (due to curing or material removal) can

be prohibitive to an agile manufacturing environment

A lot of research and development is needed to make ceramic additive

manufacturing a popular approach for direct low-volume manufacturing of
structural, functional, or bioceramic parts.

Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering

 References
 Dr. ir. Jan Deckers*, Dr. ir. Khuram Shahzad, Prof. dr. Ludwig
Cardon, Dr. ir. Marleen Rombouts, Prof. dr. Jef Vleugels, Prof.
dr. Jean-Pierre Kruth, “Shaping ceramics through indirect
selective laser sintering.” Rapid Prototyping Journal, vol 20,
issue 4

Debra Whiteman Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering