Potential and challenges for Powder Bed Fusion – Laser Beam (PBF-LB) in industrial ceramic additive manufacturing

Abstract

In recent years, ceramic 3D printing has proven its potential for increasing the cost and time efficiency of ceramic manufacturing, especially for customizable products, small series production and for (multi-material) parts with complex design. This work gives an overview of the methods for ceramic additive manufacturing that are currently available for industrial production with their advantages and disadvantages. Ceramic Powder Bed Fusion- Laser Beam (PBF-LB) or also known as selective laser sintering or melting (SLS/SLM) is introduced, using a ceramic powder as starting material for shaping by selective laser irradiation. Amongst others, the technique offers a superior productivity, which might be the central argument in the future for evaluating the applicability of PBF-LB for industrial manufacturing. Additionally, a novel approach to ceramic PBF-LB is presented, using a thermoset binder for incorporating ceramic particles in the starting material that, due to the non-meltable nature of the binder, improve the dimension stability of the green parts during thermal debinding and sintering. The production of large, complex structures opens up a wide range of applications. One promising application for porous structures made of photocatalytic titanium oxide is water treatment. Such printed, debinded and sintered filter modules enable the degradation of organic residues in water, thus contributing to safer and higher water quality. Furthermore, high-resolution printing can be realized via micro-PBF-LB (μ-PBF-LB, also known as μ-SLS).