PROPERTIES AND MICROSTRUCTURE OF ADDITIVE MANUFACTURED Al₂O₃ CERAMICS

Additive manufacturing (AM) provides a unique capability for the production of extremely complex components that are impossible to fabricate using conventional processing methods. This is especially true for ceramic materials, which are difficult to machine.

The DLP (Digital Light Processing) method, is considered to be the most robust additive manufacturing method for producing small, dense, highly complex oxide ceramic parts. The process is based on polymerization of a photo-sensitive monomer paste containing the ceramic powder.

The talk will focus on the dependence of part orientation and post processing heat treatment conditions on the mechanical and physical properties of the finished component. The AM material properties and the microstructure will be compared to the properties of high-end Al₂O₃ materials produced by traditional ceramic processing methods. Pros and cons of the DLP method will be discussed and compared to other available ceramic AM methods.