A Novel Freeform Extrusion Fabrication Process for Producing Solid Ceramic Components with Uniform Layered Radiation Drying

Abstract

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.

Department(s)

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Second Department

Materials Science and Engineering

Research Center/Lab(s)

Intelligent Systems Center

Keywords and Phrases

3D printing; Extrusion freeforming; Fused deposition; Radiation drying; Robocasting

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

2214-8604

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 May 2017

Link to Full Text

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