CAREER: Novel Powder-Bed Ceramic Additive Manufacturing Assisted with Water-Based Inks, Layerwise Uniaxial Compression and Temperate Heating for Selective Particle Fusion

职业：新型粉床陶瓷增材制造辅助水基油墨、分层单轴压缩和温控加热以实现选择性粒子融合

• 批准号: 2236905
• 负责人: Xuan Song
• 金额: $ 60.35万
• 依托单位: University of Iowa
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-04-01 至 2028-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2236905&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Novel; Powder; Bed; Ceramic

Structural ceramics are strategically important in many specialty applications, including thermal insulators, armors, implants and sensors. Manufacturing of complex ceramic components, however, has always been problematic and can be costly and laborious due largely to their unique properties, e.g., high melting points and excessive hardness. Additive manufacturing (AM) offers an alternative to produce parts with complex geometries that are challenging to make using traditional manufacturing processes. While of a great potential, current ceramic AM technologies still have limitations in making complex structures with thick walls (e.g., thicker than 10 mm), because of the use of an organic binder and the difficulty in its complete removal during de-binding. This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award supports fundamental research to investigate and mature a new ceramic powder-bed AM process that is assisted with water-based inks, so to eliminate the need of binder removing, followed by compression and mild heating to achieve particle fusion. If successful, this process will enable complex thick-walled ceramic component manufacture in a commercial scale and help accelerate wider adoption of ceramic AM in many industries, including healthcare, energy and defense. This project will also pique the interest of students at different grades in ceramic AM through ceramic-printing programs, including “Print-in-the-Dark-Side” for students with vision impairment, “Ceramic Art 3D Printing” for K-12 students, and cross-discipline ceramic printing initiatives for undergraduate students.This CAREER research aims to understand the processing mechanism of a new ceramic AM in making complex thick-walled ceramic parts through employing a selectively deposited water-based ink, followed by uniaxial compression layer by layer. Once the print is completed, mild heating is applied (50 to 200 Celsius) to the built powder bed, in which upon evaporation of the ink due to heating, particles in the ink-wetted region will be fused together. The project will study ceramic particles made of lithium molybdate, calcium phosphate and barium titanate, and employ instrumented compression tests (up to 100 megapascals), multi-scale experimental characterizations, and pore-scale numerical simulations to elucidate the effects of different processing conditions and material properties on the fusion mechanism and degree of ceramic particles, including the ink chemistry and saturation level, the compression magnitude, duration and cycles, as well as the heating temperature and time. The research findings are expected to uncover the mechanism that governs the neck formation and growth between ceramic particles in the studied ceramic AM process, identify the key factors that determine the particle fusion density and strength, and ultimately, enable making complex thick-walled ceramic components with minimum defects, full density and enhanced properties.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

在许多特殊应用中，结构陶瓷在战略上很重要，包括热绝缘子，装甲，直接和传感器。但是，复杂的陶瓷组件的制造始终是有问题的，并且由于其独特的特性，例如高熔点和过度硬度，可能是昂贵和实验室的。增材制造（AM）提供了一种替代方法，可以生产具有复杂几何形状的零件，这些零件是使用传统制造工艺制造的挑战。尽管具有巨大的潜力，但当前的陶瓷AM技术仍然有局限性在制造具有厚壁的复杂结构（例如，厚度大于10 mm），因为使用有机粘合剂，并且在删除期间的完全去除方面的难度。这项教师早期职业发展（职业）奖支持基本研究，以调查和成熟，并成熟一种新的陶瓷粉末床AM工艺，该工艺得到了水基油墨的协助，因此消除了消除粘合剂的需求，然后进行压缩和轻度加热以实现颗粒融合。如果成功，此过程将使复杂的厚壁陶瓷组件制造能够以商业规模为单位，并有助于加速在包括医疗保健，能源和国防在内的许多行业中广泛采用陶瓷AM。 This project will also pique the interest of students at different grades in ceramic AM through ceramic-printing programs, including “Print-in-the-Dark-Side” for students with vision impairment, “Ceramic Art 3D Printing” for K-12 students, and cross-discipline ceramic printing initiatives for undergraduate students.This CAREER research aims to understand the processing mechanism of a new ceramic AM in making complex thick-walled ceramic parts through employing a选择性沉积的水基墨水，然后按层单轴压缩层。印刷品完成后，将温和的加热（50至200摄氏度）施加到内置的粉末床上，在该粉末床上，由于热量蒸发墨水后，墨水区域中的颗粒将融合在一起。 The project will study ceramic particles made of lithium molybdate, calcium phosphate and barium titanate, and employee instrumented compression tests (up to 100 megapascals), multi-scale experimental characters, and pore-scale numerical simulations to elucidate the effects of different processing conditions and material properties on the fusion mechanism and degree of ceramic particles, including the ink chemistry and saturation level, the compression magnitude,持续时间和周期以及加热温度和时间。预计研究发现将发现控制陶瓷AM过程中的颈部形成和陶瓷颗粒之间的生长的机制智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准。

项目成果

Binder-free additive manufacturing of ceramics using hydrothermal-assisted jet fusion

• DOI: 10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2023.06.056
• 发表时间: 2023-06
• 期刊: Journal of the European Ceramic Society
• 影响因子: 5.7
• 作者: F. Fei;L. Kirby;Alexander Gralczyk;Xuan Song