Freeforming of Ceramics and Composites from Colloidal Slurries

Abstract

This report is a summary of the work completed for an LDRD project. The objective of the project was to develop a solid freeform fabrication technique for ceramics and composites from fine particle slurries. The work was successful and resulted in the demonstration of a manufacturing technique called robocasting. Some ceramic components may pow be fabricated without the use of molds or tooling by dispensing colloidal suspensions through an orifice and stacking two-dimensional layers into three-dimensional shapes. Any conceivable two-dimensional pattern may be ''written'' layer by layer into a three-dimensional shape. Development of the robocasting technique required the materials expertise for fabrication and theological control of very highly concentrated fine particle slurries, and development of robotics for process control and optimization. Several ceramic materials have been manufactured and characterized. Development of techniques for robocasting multiple materials simultaneously have also been developed to build parts with unique structures or graded compositions.