Effect of Solid Loading on the Property of Al2O3 Ceramics in Stereolithographic Additive Manufacturing

• Main Authors: He, R. (Author), Jin, H. (Author), Liu, G. (Author), Yan, C. (Author), Zhang, K. (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Science Press 2022
• Subjects: Additive manufacturing; Additives; Al2O3 ceramic; Al2O3 ceramics; Alumina; Aluminum oxide; Behaviour properties; Critical value; Curing; Curing properties; Defects; High viscosities; Levelings; Light sensitive materials; Microstructure; Microstructures and mechanical properties; Photosensitivity; Property; Rheological behaviour; Rheology; Shear flow; Shear stress; Solid loading; Stereolithography; Stress analysis; Viscosity
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher

 For ceramic stereolithographic (SL) additive manufacturing, the solid loading of ceramic photosensitive slurry plays an important role during the SL process. In this study, Al2O3 ceramics were fabricated by SL additive manufacturing from photosensitive Al2O3 slurries with various solid loadings, and the solid loading-property rela¬tionships of Al2O3 ceramic were performed. The effects of solid loading on not only the rheological behavior and curing property of the photosensitive Al2O3 slurry but also the microstructure and mechanical properties of the Al2O3 ceramic were investigated. The results showed that both the viscosity and shear stress increased with the increase of the solid loading. High viscosity was greater than the critical value for self-leveling during the SL process. The curing properties of photosensitive Al2O3 slurries were highly depended on the sold loading. Moreover, clear effects on the defect characteristics of Al2O3 ceramics manufactured from various photosensitive slurries were observed. These manufactured defects are critical for the mechanical behavior of Al2O3 ceramic. In addition, the relationship between rheological behavior and curing property of photosensitive Al2O3 slurry. Meanwhile, the resulting microstructure and mechanical properties of the Al2O3 ceramic were also illustrated. Inhomogeneous structure caused by high viscosity can lead to a sintered ceramic with poor strength. These findings provide fundamental understanding for SL additive manufacturing of ceramics. © 2022, Science Press. All right reserved.