But these are not your grandmother’s ceramics.
It turns out that ceramics are actually incredibly strong, lightweight, and heat resistant, making them ideal materials for creating components of air- or spacecraft. Unfortunately, it has been difficult to unlock that potential through 3D printing because ceramic particles are not fused together when subjected to heat – the very property that makes them so desirable was working against their utilization.
“Our team surmounted the challenges inherent in ceramics to develop an innovative material that has myriad applications in a variety of industries. The resulting material can withstand ultrahigh temperatures in excess of 1700°C and exhibits strength ten times higher than similar materials. Everything from large components in jet engines and hypersonic vehicles to intricate parts in microelectromechanical systems and electronic device packaging could be fabricated.”
So what did the scientists do to create this printable ceramics formula? The entire explanation is included in the journal Science (vol. 351 no. 6268 pp. 58-62). However, in case you’d rather get right to the point, never fear, we here at 3DPrint.com have read it for you.
“We report preceramic monomers that are cured with ultraviolet light in stereolithography 3D printer or through a patterned mask, forming 3D polymer structures that can have complex shape and cellular architecture. These polymer structures can be pyrolyzed to a ceramic with uniform shrinkage and virtually no porosity. Silicon oxycarbine microlattice and honeycomb cellular materials fabricated with this approach exhibit higher strength than ceramic foams of similar density. Additive manufacturing of such materials is of interest for propulsion components, thermal protection systems, porous burners, microelectromechanical systems, and electronic device packaging.”
These ceramic parts offer superior performance to those produced by other methods as well as unlocking the potential for future improvements and represent the first time that silicon carbine ceramics have ever been 3D printed.
And I can’t help thinking that my great-grandmother would be impressed. What do you think of this process? Discuss in the 3D Printed Ceramics forum over at 3DPB.com.
[Source: Albany Daily Star