Compressive strength of porous 3D printed spodumene

Abstract

Materials used in the selective laser melting (SLM) technique are currently limited to metals. As a result, this limitation has restricted the full potential of SLM. Being a powder bed-based additive manufacturing (AM) method, it is able to manufacture geometrically complex components not possible with conventional subtractive methods. In addition, it is also possible to manufacture interlocking parts, which enables the user to bypass part assembly stage in the production line. However, the many potentials of this AM method are being limited to the types of materials it can process. Overcoming materials limitation is an important step to wider usage of SLM AM. The material used in this study belongs to a naturally occurring mineral – spodumene. The advantage of this material it its low coefficient of thermal expansion, if added as an additive, can improve the thermal shock resistance of a part. By optimising the processing conditions, we were able to print cylindrical spodumene glass-ceramic parts for compressive strength test with respect to the post-heat-treatment temperatures. In addition, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy showed that the elemental composition remained relatively consistent after the laser process. Compression test carried out also suggests that heat-treatment did not affect the compressive strength of the printed parts. Last but not least, this study aims to show that the direct laser melting of ceramics, without binders, is still possible.