Additive Manufacturing of Alumina Components by Extrusion of In-Situ UV-Cured Pastes
Abstract
Additive manufacturing of ceramic materials is an attractive technique for rapid
prototyping of components at small scales and low cost. We have investigated the printing of
alumina pastes loaded at 70-81.5 wt% solids in a UV curable resin. These can be deposited by
extrusion from a syringe head on a Hyrel System 30M printer. The print head is equipped with an
array of UV LEDs, which solidify the paste without the need for any applied heating. Parameters
optimized include print speed, layer height, applied force, and deposition rate. Using A15 alumina
and submicron A16 powder precursors, we can achieve bulk densities of 91% and 96% of
theoretical density respectively. The influence of dispersants and surfactants added to the powder
on the rheology of the pastes, the print process parameters, and the quality of the final components
are also investigated.