Indirect 3D Printing of Ceramics by SLS
Selective laser sintering (SLS) is a laser based system that utilizes a powder bed to print 3D bulk parts. A part is designed using CAD software and virtually sliced. A laser is scanned over the surface a powder bed where if fuses powder together to produce the bottom layer of the part. The piston is then dropped by a distance equivalent to a layer thickness, the roller spreads another layers, and the laser is scanned to fuse the powder in the next layer. This process is repeat until the 3D part is rendered. The part is then removed from the loose powder bed. To produce bulk ceramic parts, the ceramic powder is mixed with a polymeric binder. The laser fuses the polymer and bonds the ceramic particles through the binder. Upon completion of the part, it is removed from the powder bed and the polymer binder is removed by pyrolysis and the ceramic part is sintered at high temperature to produce a high quality part.
A slice from an X-ray tomograph showing (A) the cross-sections from three sintered samples, (B) magnified cross-section of a single channel for sample # 8 (d = 4, p = 30, L = 38.1, D = 2) showing circumferential roughness, (C) a projected sagittal cross-section of this sample and, (D) a magnified sagittal cross-section showing longitudinal surface roughness. From DOI: 10.1111/ijac.13778.
Current Graduate Student Researcher
• Arturo Hernandez
This work is supported by Los Alamos National Laboratory
Publications
D.M. Sassaman, M.S. Ide, J.J. Beaman, and D. Kovar, “A Model for Bonding Mechanisms in Indirect Laser Powder Bed Fusion of Nylon/Alumina Blends” Additive Manufacturing, 59 103163 (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.addma.2022.103163
D.M. Sassaman, M.S. Ide, D. Kovar, and J.J. Beaman, “Design of an In-situ Microscope for Selective Laser Sintering, Additive Manufacturing Letters, 2 100033 (2022). DOI:10.1016/j.addlet.2022.100033.
D. Sassaman, M. Ide, J. Beaman, and D. Kovar, “Geometry Limitations in Indirect Selective Laser Sintering of Alumina,” Proceedings of the 32nd Annual International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium, pp 688-701, 2021. Reprint
P.P. Radyjowski, D.L Bourell, D. Kovar, J.L. and Ellzey, “Additive Manufacturing of Si-SiC for Combustion Device Applications,” Proceedings of the 32nd Annual International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium, pp 157-168, 2021. Reprint
J. Nissen, D. Sassaman, S. Lee, J. Desjardins, J.J. Beaman, and D. Kovar, “Methodology for Determining Design Rules for Helical Channels in Glass Components Produced by Selective Laser Sintering, International Journal of Applied Ceramic Technology, 18 [5] 1751-1763 (2021). DOI: 10.1111/ijac.13778