Indirect Fabrication of Metals and Ceramics

Abstract

Various nomenclatures are in use to describe SFF processes that create metal and ceramic objects. At the University of Texas and in this book, the three major processing methods are called transfer methods, indirect methods, and direct methods. In simple terms, transfer methods use patterns, either castings or spray metal patterns. Indirect methods1 (which could also be called low-density matrix methods) involve making relatively low-density objects and then infiltrating or post-sintering these objects to high density. Direct methods (which could also be called high-density methods) create high density structures without a secondary processing step. There is already commercial application of the indirect methods; the direct methods are all still in the research stage. Transfer and indirect methods are the subject of this chapter. A discussion of direct methods is deferred until Chapter 7.