Development of a process chain for the manufacturing of complex ceramic components by means of Fused Deposition Modelling

Jens Bliedtner

Abstract

The article introduces the additive manufacturing of com­ponents made of high-performance ceramics, especially of silicon carbide, silicon nitride, aluminium oxide and zirconium oxide. The entire process chain from material composition over filament manufacturing, 3D-print and further processing to the ready to use ceramics compo­nent was subject of the investigations. The work focussed on the development and processing of ceramics fila­ments. They can be processed on different 3D-print sys­tems. This development was tested on an extruder system with an installation space volume of 200x200x250 mm3. The feedstock has to be suitable to be turned into a print­able filament by means of a 1-screw extruder for which a sufficient flexibility for winding and a minimal tensile strength are necessary. The flexibility was characterised by a minimal bending radius at which the filament does not break yet. The material development included the har­monisation of the organic components in terms of com­position and amount of the ceramic powder. Filaments with diameters of 1.75 and 2.85 mm were provided. A steady material discharge is necessary in order to process the two very different source materials (ceramics and plas­tic) by means of the FDM-procedure. This requires the homogeneous heating of the filament. The homogeneity directly affects the achievable component quality. Result is a material-adjusted viscosity-temperature controlled process for the processing of the ceramic filaments. First applications which were investigated and successfully re­alised with the new process chain are shown.