A New Layer Casting System for Ceramic Laser Rapid Prototyping Apparatus

In the existing Ceramic Laser Fusion system, slurry is fed on the high temperature surface of the green part; therefore, a part of water infiltrates into the green block and vaporizes before the process of layer casting. As a result, the slurry viscosity rises gradually; the quality of the layer surface is not uniform, and the green part density is uneven. The aim of present study is to develop a new layer casting system which can solve the problems mentioned above to obtain a green part with uniform surface quality and density, and to shorten the time-taken of part fabrication. The first part of the paper illustrates the major requirements and parameters of a slurry distributor; the second part describes the integration of the slurry feeding device and layer casting system. The integrated system can feed slurry and cast thin layer simultaneously; consequently, the drawbacks of the existing system can be eliminated and the time-taken of the layer casting can be shortened. A variable-frequency drive (inverter) is used to control the motor speed. The relation between the frequency and the slurry delivery can be included in the process control program to adjust the quantity in accordance with the layer thickness; hence, the waste of the slurry can be reduced.