Properties of selective laser melted spodumene glass-ceramic

Abstract

In this article, we established the process conditions and characterised the resulting properties of additively manufactured spodumene important for selective laser melting of LAS–Al2O3. X‐ray diffraction analyses revealed the as‐printed samples printed with layer thickness of 50μm were fully crystalline. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy showed that the major elements before and after the printing process were present and in similar quantity. Micro‐computerised tomography inspection also revealed layer thickness‐dependent pore formation in all printed samples. In terms of mechanical properties, the highest flexural strength measured using the three‐point bend test method was 4.33MPa. More importantly, these results demonstrated that there is still potential in the direct laser melting of ceramics.