Mechanical-electromagnetic integration design of Al[formula omitted]/SiO[formula omitted] ceramic cellular materials fabricated by digital light processing

Abstract

Mechanical-electromagnetic integrated design has great potential in the development of electromagnetic shielding equipment for military use. In this study, Al2O3/SiO 2 ceramics with triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMSs) were fabricated using digital light processing (DLP) technology. The preparation of SiO 2 and Al2O3 powders is vital for DLP because minimal aggregates or sedimentation in the ceramic paste is required. Debinding and sintering programs were developed to prevent defects in the designed microstructure. The interfacial characterization demonstrated that the surfaces of the sintered ceramics were compact and smooth. The compression strength of the TPMS ceramic with a volume fraction of 50% was 24 MPa, which is relatively good among additively manufactured cellular ceramics. The TPMS structures also exhibited significant electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness in the X-band (2 to 18 GHz), and the shielding performance was adequate to meet the demands of electromagnetic shielding materials. Additive manufacturing of Al2O3/SiO2 ceramic with TPMS architectures was successfully achieved by considering the mechanical-electromagnetic integration.