Effect of Particle Size on Silicon Nitride Ceramic Slurry by Stereolithography

The effects of particle size,gradation and solid loading of silicon nitride (Si_(3)N_(4)) on the rheological behavior and curing properties of ceramic slurry are studied by stereolithography (SLA).The results show that the particle size of Si_(3)N_(4) powder has a signif icant influence on the rheological properties and stability of the slurry.When m_(D50=1.3μm):m_(D50=2.3μm)=3:7,the slurry viscosity is low and the sedimentation is slow.The most important thing is that with the increase of the solid loading of the slurry,the viscosity of the slurry increases,the stability becomes higher,and the curing thickness decreases.The curing thickness of Si_(3)N_(4) ceramic slurry with solid loading of 50 vol% can reach nearly 50μm.The above results finally show that the process optimizes the formulation of the slurry in rheological and curing properties.

Powder Characteristics on the Rheological Performance of Resin-based Zirconia Suspension for Stereolithography

As for ceramic stereolithography technique,the preparation of suitable resin-based ceramic slurry is of primary importance.In this study,the effects of powder characteristics such as specific surface area,particle size and distribution,particle morphology on the rheological behavior of zirconia resin-based suspensions were investigated intensively.Results show that the specific surface area of the powder is the most important factor affecting slurry viscosity.Choosing low specific surface area and quasi-spherical shaped powder is more likely to obtain low viscosity slurries.In addition,the influence of solid loading on the flow behavior were also studied using Krieger-Dougherty model.Zirconia samples with the relative density of(97.83±0.33)%were obtained after sintering at 1550℃.No obvious abnormal grain growth in the microstructure of the sintered body is observed.Results indicate that after the optimization of the processing parameters with the help of rheology characterization,complex-shaped high-quality zirconia parts can be obtained using the stereolithography technique.

Preparation of a Novel Cationic Photosensitive Resin(3D-SLR01) for Stereolithography 3D Printing and Determination of Its Some Properties

A novel cationic photosensitive resin(3 DSLR-01) for stereolithography 3 D printing was prepared with 3,4-epoxycyclohexylmethyl-3’,4’-epoxycyclohexane carboxylate(2021 P),1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol glycidyl ether(JX-026), diglycidyl 4,5-epoxycyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylate(S-186), polycaprolactone polyol(Polyol-0305), novolac epoxy resin(F-51), bis(3-ethyl-3-oxetanylmethyl) ether(S-221) and a mixture of triarylsulfonium hexafluoroantimonate salts solution(UVI-6976). The properties of the photosensitive resin and its UV-cured films were investigated by some instruments and equipment.The experimental results show that the critical exposure(Ec) of the photosensitive resin is 16.3 mJ/cm^2, the penetration depth(Dp) is 0.14 mm, and the optical property of the photosensitive resin is excellent. Rectangle plates were printed by using a stereolithography apparatus(HRPL-150 A) with the photosensitive resin as the manufacturing material, and the shrinkage rates of the plates were less than 0.60%, which showed that the accuracy of the manufactured plates was very high.

Application of Bis[2-(3,4-epoxycyclohexyl)ethyl]octamethyltetrasiloxane in the Preparation of a Photosensitive Resin for Stereolithography 3D Printing

Bis[2-(3,4-epoxycyclohexyl)ethyl]octamethyltetrasiloxane is also called diepoxycyclohexylethyl octamethyltetrasiloxane. In the present paper, diepoxycyclohexylethyl octamethyltetrasiloxane was synthesized, and the synthesized product was characterized by FTIR and 1 HMR. The synthesized product was compounded with some acrylates and an expoxide as well as photoinitiators to obtain a 3D printing stereolithography resin(3DSLR111). The properties of 3DSLR111 and its UV-cured samples were investigated by some instruments and equipments. The experimental results show that the critical exposure(Ec) of 3DSLR111 is 10.1 mJ/cm^2, its penetration depth(Dp) is 0.15 mm, and its viscosity at 30 ℃ is 319 mPa·s. Some samples were printed with 3DSLR111, and their linear shrinkage and warping factor were evaluated. The linear shrinkage and the curl distortion factor are less than 0.80% and 7.30%, respectively, which indicates that the sample printed with 3DSLR111 has high accuracy, and that the synthesized diepoxycyclohexylethyl octamethyltetrasiloxane can be well applied to the preparation of the photosensitive resin for stereolithography 3D printing.

Fabrication of silica-based ceramic cores with internal lattice structures by stereolithography

Ceramic cores are widely used in investment casting,and ideal properties of cores are essential for high-quality castings.Under the circumstances requiring thick cores,solid cores are likely to encounter deformation and cracking defects due to the accumulation of shrinkage.Therefore,with the superiority of ceramic stereolithography in producing complex ceramic parts,hollow cores with lattice structures were designed and fabricated.The dimensional accuracy and properties of the green and sintered bodies were evaluated.Results show the dimensional accuracy of sintered cores is controlled within±0.25 mm benefited from the precise green bodies.The mechanical properties are not obviously deteriorated.The bending strength reaches 11.94 MPa at room temperature and 12.87 MPa at 1,500℃ with a creep deformation of 0.345 mm.Furthermore,casting verifications prove that the hollow cores meet the requirements of investment casting.Smooth casting surfaces are obtained,at the same time,the core-removal efficiency is improved by over 3 times.

Preparation of A Novel Hybrid Type Photosensitive Resin for Stereolithography in 3D Printing and Testing on the Accuracy of the Fabricated Parts

A novel hybrid type photosensitive resin for stereolithography in 3D printing was prepared with bisphenol A type epoxy diacrylate （EA-612）, tripropylene glycol diacrylate （TPGDA）,ethoxylated trimethyolpropane triacrylate（EO3TMPTA）, cycloaliphatic diepoxide（ERL-4221）,polycaprolactonepolyol（Polyol-0301）,1-hydroxy-cyclohphenyl ketone（Irgacure184）, and a mixture of triarylsulfonium hexafluoroantimonate salts （Ar3SSbF6）. The novel hybrid type photosensitive resin was the photosensitive resin of an epoxy-acrylate hybrid system, which proceeded free radical polymerization and cationic polymerization in ultraviolet （UV） laser. Cuboid parts and double-cantilever parts were fabricated by using a stereolithography apparatus with the novel hybrid type photosensitive resin as the processing material,and the dimension shrinkage factor and the curl factor were tested. The shrinkage factor was less than 2.00%,and the curl factor was less than 8.00%, which showed that the accuracy of the fabricated parts was high with the photosensitive resin for stereolithography in 3D printing.

PART BUILDING ORIENTATION OPTIMIZATION METHOD IN STEREOLITHOGRAPHY

Aiming at the part quality and building time problems in stereolithography （SL） caused by unreasonable building orientation, a part building orientation decision method in SL rapid prototyping （RP） is carried out. Bringing into full consideration of the deformation, stair-stepping effect, overcure effect and building time related to the part fabrication orientation, and using evaluation function method, a multi-objective optimization model for the building orientation is defined. According to the difference in the angles between normal vectors of triangular facets in standard triangulation language （STL） model and z axis, the expressions of deformation area, stair-stepping area, overcure area are established. According to the characteristics in SL process, part building time is divided into four sections, that is, hatching scanning time, outline scanning time, support building time and layer waiting time. Expressions of each building time section are given. Considering the features of this optimization model, genetic algorithm （GA） is used to derive the optimization objective, related software is developed and optimization results are tested through experiments. Application shows that this method can effectively solve the quality and efficiency troubles caused by unreasonable part building orientation, an automatic orientation-determining program is developed and verified through test.

Development of a Hybrid Photopolymer for Stereolithography

New liquid free radical-cationic hybrid photopolymer, consisting of acrylate-based photocurable resin and epoxy-based photosensitive resin for stereolithography by UV laser was developed. The experiment results indicated that the hybrid photopolymer exhibits advantages of both the acrylate-based photosensitive resin and the epoxy-based photosensitive polymer contained in the hybrid system with relatively high photospeed and low linear shrinkage. Stereolithography parts without obvious distortion were built on the stereolithography apparatus HRPLA- I from this hybrid resin successfully and efficiently.

Bioadaptable bioactive glass-β-tricalcium phosphate scaffolds with TPMS-gyroid structure by stereolithography for bone regeneration

Bone defect repair remains a troubling problem in clinical orthopedics,which involves complex biological processes.Calcium phosphates(CaPs)have been widely used owing to their advantage of biocompatibility.However,single component and traditional fabrication methods cannot meet the requirements of bioadaptability during the tissue repair process.In this work,0%,5%,15%,25%wt%of BG-TCP(bioactive glass-β-tricalcium phosphate)bioresorbable scaffolds with triply-periodic minimal surfaces(TPMS)-gyroid structure were prepared by the stereolithography(SLA)technology.TPMS-gyroid structure provided an accurate mimicry of natural bone tissue,and the incorporation of BG improved the compressive strength ofβ-TCP matrix,matched with the defective bone(2–12 MPa).Rapid but tunable degradation kinetics(compared with pure TCP)of BG enabled the BG-TCP system to sh8ow adaptable biodegradability to new bone generation.In vitro studies have shown that composite scaffolds have better mechanical properties(7.82 MPa),and can released appropriate contents of calcium,phosphorous,and magnesium ions,which promoted the osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells(BMSCs)and angiogenic ability of endothelial progenitor cells(EPCs).Moreover,the in vivo assessment of rat femoral defect revealed that TPMS-structure-based TCP scaffolds accelerated bone ingrowth to the pores.Moreover,BG-TCP scaffolds,especially 15BG-TCP group,exhibited superior bone regeneration capacity at both 4 and 8 weeks,which achieved an optimal match between the rate of material degradation and tissue regeneration.In summary,this study provides insight into influences of bioactive components(BG)and bionic structures(TPMS)on the physical-chemical properties of materials,cell behavior and tissue regeneration,which offers a promising strategy to design bioadaptive ceramic scaffolds in the clinical treatment of bone defects.

Accuracy controlling and mechanical behaviors of precursor-derived ceramic SiOC microlattices by projection micro stereolithography(PμSL)3D printing

Precursor-derived ceramic SiOC(PDC-SiOC)microlattices exhibit excellent oxidation resistance,high-temperature stability,and superior mechanical properties.However,the printing accuracy of the PDC-SiOC microlattices by 3D printing is still limited,and mechanical properties of the PDC-SiOC microlattices have not been studied systematically.Here,PDC-SiOC octet microlattices were fabricated by projection micro stereolithography(PμSL)3D printing,and photoabsorber(Sudan III)’s effect on the accuracy was systematically analyzed.The results showed that the addition of Sudan III improved the printing accuracy significantly.Then,the ceramization process of the green body was analyzed in detail.The order of the green body decreased,and most of their chemical bonds were broken during pyrolysis.After that,the PDC-SiOC microlattices with different truss diameters in the range of 52–220μm were fabricated,and their mechanical properties were investigated.The PDC-SiOC microlattices with a truss diameter of 52μm exhibited higher compression strength(31 MPa)than those with bigger truss diameters.The size effect among the PDC-SiOC microlattices was analyzed.Our work provides a deeper insight into the manufacturing of PDC-SiOC micro-scaled architectures by 3D printing and paves a path to the research of the size effect in ceramic structures.

Effects of Stereolithography Process Parameters on the Curing Properties of Si_(3)N_(4)Ceramic Slurries

This paper systematically investigates the effects of process parameters,such as exposure time and slice thickness,on the polymerization kinetics of a Si_(3)N_(4)ceramic slurry.The higher the C=C conversion rate in the SLA process,the faster the polymerization rate in the slurry during the initial exposure.However,when the UV exposure time is increased from 5 to 20 s,the solidified gel in the slurry hinders the diffusion of free radicals,causing the C=C conversion rate to stop.The slurry achieves a C=C conversion rate of up to 81%and a curing dimensional accuracy of up to IT7 level at an exposure time of 10 s.When the penetration depth of the slurry is equal to the slice thickness,the difference in C=C conversion rates between the ends of the blank is at least 21%.Furthermore,the Si3 N4 ceramics processed by stereolithography exhibit no defects,such as warpage or holes.

Influence of Sintering Temperature on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Al2O3 Ceramic via 3D Stereolithography

In this work,aluminum oxide(Al2O3) ceramic samples were fabricated by 3D stereolithography printing.Printing process was followed by debinding and sintering.In addition,the effect of sintering temperature on micro structure and properties was investigated.Flexure strength was observed to increase with increasing sintering temperature due to fewer pores,fewer defects and stronger grain boundary bonding of samples at higher sintering temperatures.Maximum flexure strength of 138.5 MPa was obtained when sintering temperature was 150℃.Furthermore,the shrinkage along length direction decreased with the decreasing sintering temperature until reaching minimum value of 1.02% after sintering at 1200℃.After sintering at 1280℃,flexure strength was 24.0 MPa and the shrinkage along length direction was 2.1%,which meets demands of ceramic core.

Influence of Al_(2)0_(3) content on mechanical properties of silica-based ceramic cores prepared by stereolithography

Silica ceramic cores have played an important part in the manufacture of hollow blades due to their excellent chemical stability and moderate high-temperature mechanical properties.In this study,silica-based ceramics were prepared with Al_(2)0_(3) addition by stereolithography,and the influence of Al_(2)0_(3) content on mechanical properties of the silica-based ceramics was investigated.The Al_(2)0_(3) in silica-based ceramics can improve the mechanical properties by playing a role as a seed for the crystallization of fused silica into cristobalite.As a result,with the increase of Al_(2)0_(3) content,the linear shrinkage of the silica-based ceramics first decreased and then increased,while the room-temperature flexural strength and the high-temperature flexural strength first increased and then decreased.As the Al_(2)0_(3) content increased to 1.0 vol%,the linear shrinkage was reduced to 1.64%because of the blocked viscous flow caused by Al_(2)0_(3).Meanwhile,the room-temperature flexural strength and the high-temperature flexural strength were improved to 20.38 and 21.43 MPa with 1.0 vol%Al_(2)0_(3),respectively,due to the increased a-cristobalite and P-cristobalite content.Therefore,using the optimal content of Al_(2)0_(3) in silica-based ceramics can provide excellent mechanical properties,which are suitable for the application of ceramic cores in the manufacturing of hollow blades.

Stereolithography printing of bone scaffolds using biofunctional calcium phosphate nanoparticles

Calcium phosphate(CaP)has been widely used for bone defect repair due to good biocompatibility and osteoconductivity.Additive manufacture of calcium phosphate bioceramics with tailored architectures and improved mechanical properties has recently attracted great attention.Herein,calcium phosphate nanoparticles with the size of~89-164 nm were synthesized by the hydrothermal treatment of amorphous calcium phosphate(ACP)precursors at 180°C for 24 h.Biofunctional elements including Mg,Sr and Zn have been doped into these calcium phosphate nanoparticles.Our results revealed that Mg^(2+)ions played critical roles in formation of whitlockite-type calcium phosphate(not hydroxyapatite)from ACP precursors.Moreover,gyroid scaffolds with bionic triply periodic minimal surface structures were fabricated using stereolithography printing of these calcium phosphate nanoparticles,which are likely used as biofunctional scaffolds for bone repair.

Improved mechanical properties of SiC fiber reinforced silica-based ceramic cores fabricated by stereolithography

Silica-based ceramic cores have been widely used to fabricate aero-engine hollow blades due to their moderate high temperature mechanical properties and excellent leachability.In this study,silica-based ceramics with SiC fiber addition were prepared via stereolithography,and the influence of SiC fiber content on mechanical properties of the obtained silica-based ceramics was investigated.With the increase of SiC fiber content,linear shrinkage gradually decreased,while room temperature flexural strength and high temperature flexural strength first increased and then decreased.As SiC fiber content increased to 4.0 wt%,linear shrinkage was reduced to 0.62%resulting from the oxidation of SiC.Furthermore,room temperature flexural strength was improved from 11.79 MPa to 23.83 MPa and high temperature flexural strength was enhanced from 15.64 MPa to 34.62 MPa with 4.0 wt%SiC fiber addition due to the reinforcement of fibers and the enhancedβ-cristobalite content,which meets the need of ceramic cores.Therefore,it demonstrates the capability of fabricating high-performance and high-precision silica-based ceramic cores reinforced by SiC fibers via stereolithography for rapid manufacturing of hollow blades.

Enhanced comprehensive properties of stereolithography 3D printed alumina ceramic cores with high porosities by a powder gradation design

Ceramic cores with complex structures and optimized properties are critical for hollow turbine blades applied in aeroengines.Compared to traditional methods,additive manufacturing(AM)presents great advantages in forming complex ceramic cores,but how to balance the porosity and strength is an enormous challenge.In this work,alumina ceramic cores with high porosity,moderate strength,and low high-temperature deflection were prepared using stereolithography(SLA)3D printing by a novel powder gradation design strategy.The contradiction between porosity and flexural strength is well adjusted when the mass ratio of the coarse,medium,and fine particles is 2:1:1 and the sintering temperature is 1600℃.The fracture mode of coarse particles in sintered SLA 3D printing ceramic transforms from intergranular fracture to transgranular fracture with the increase of sintering temperature and the proportion of fine powders in powder system.The sintered porosity has a greater influence on the high-temperature deflection of SLA 3D printed ceramic cores than grain size.On this basis,a"non-skeleton"microstructure model of SLA 3D printed alumina ceramic cores is created to explain the relationship between the sintering process and properties.As a result,high porosity(36.4%),appropriate strength(50.1 MPa),and low high-temperature deflection(2.27 mm)were achieved by optimizing particle size gradation and sintering process,which provides an insight into the important enhancement of the comprehensive properties of SLA 3D printed ceramic cores.

Microstructure refinement-homogenization and flexural strength improvement of Al_(2)O_(3) ceramics fabricated by DLP-stereolithography integrated with chemical precipitation coating process

In this study,the chemical precipitation coating(CP)process was creatively integrated with DLP-stereolithography based 3D printing for refining and homogenizing the microstructure of 3D printed Al_(2)O_(3) ceramic.Based on this novel approach,Al_(2)O_(3)powder was coated with a homogeneous layer of amorphous Y2O3,with the coated AI2O3 powder found to make the microstructure of 3D printed Al_(2)O_(3) ceramic more uniform and refined,as compared with the conventional mechanical mixing(MM)of Al_(2)O_(3) and Y_(2)O_(3) powders.The grain size of Al_(2)O_(3) in Sample CP is 64.44%and 51.43%lower than those in the monolithic Al_(2)O_(3) ceramic and Sample MM,respectively.Sample CP has the highest flexural strength of 455.37±32.17 MPa,which is 14.85%and 25.45%higher than those of Samples MM and AL,respectively;also Sample CP has the highest Weibull modulus of 16.88 among the three kinds of samples.Moreover,the fine grained Sample CP has a close thermal conductivity to the coarse grained Sample MM because of the changes in morphology of Y_(3)Al_(5)O_(12) phase from semi-connected(Sample MM)to isolated(Sample CP).Finally,specially designed fin-type Al_(2)O_(3) ceramic heat sinks were successfully fabricated via the novel integrated process,which has been proven to be an effective method for fabricating complex-shaped Al_(2)O_(3) ceramic components with enhanced flexural strength and reliability.

GO-modified flexible polymer nanocomposites fabricated via 3D stereolithography

Graphene oxide(GO)induced enhancement of elastomer properties showed a great deal of potential in recent years,but it is still limited by the barrier of the complicated synthesis processes.Stereolithography(SLA),used in fabrication of thermosets and very recently in“flexible”polymers with elastomeric properties,presents itself as simple and user-friendly method for integration of GO into elastomers.In this work,it was first time demonstrated that GO loadings can be incorporated into commercial flexible photopolymer resins to successfully fabricate GO/elastomer nanocomposites via readily accessible,consumer-oriented SLA printer.The material properties of the resulting polymer was characterized and tested.The mechanical strength,stiffness,and the elongation of the resulting polymer decreased with the addition of GO.The thermal properties were also adversely affected upon the increase in the GO content based on differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis results.It was proposed that the GO agglomerates within the 3D printed composites,can result in significant change in both mechanical and thermal properties of the resulting nanocomposites.This study demonstrated the possibility for the development of the GO/elastomer nanocomposites after the optimization of the GO/“Hexible”photoreactive resin formulation for SLA with suitable annealing process of the composite in future.

Surface Hardness Evaluation of Components Made by Color Stereolithography

Surface hardness value is a commonly used indicator for describing the mechanical property of stere- olithography parts. In order to investigate colorants how to influence the surface hardness of colorful resin component, a procedure is proposed to fabricate testing specimens based on color stereolithography technology in this study. Liquid photosensitive resin LPR2001 is mixed with two colorants(phthalocyanine blue and eosin powder) respectively before curing. The phthalocyanine blue powder is insoluble and only dispersive in the solid- liquid mixture which results in deposits. Therefore, surface modification is conducted to the phthalocyanine blue powder for improving wettability. By contrast, the eosin powder is dissoluble and does not cause any deposits in the liquid resin. Specimens are produced by laser curing colored resin and tested by MTSRNano Indenter XP system. The change of hardness values is illustrated at certain mass percentages of colorant. Comparisons and discussions are carried out to explain the colorants' efect. It is concluded that incorporating colorant to liquid resin results in decreasing the surface hardness of components. But sensibilization efect of the colorants also influences the curing process. Surface modification to the phthalocyanine blue powder is a feasible method to increase the hardness value of color stereolithography components. Dissolvable eosin has an approximate linear efect on surface hardness.

Quick fabrication of aeronautical complicated structural parts based on stereolithography

Investment casting based on stereolithography(SL)has the characteristics of short production cycle and low cost,which is especially suitable for fabricating complex aeronautical parts without metal dies.But there are some problems during the fabrication process,such as low surface accuracy caused by the staircases of resin prototype,shell cracking caused by higher thermal stress during the sintering process and so on.Taking an engine turbine stator as a fabrication example,the surface accuracy of resin prototype under the effect of coating method was investigated using the laser confocal microscopy;what’s more,both theoretical analysis and finite element analysis(FEA)were combined and compared to reveal the thermal stress field of ceramic shell during pyrolyzing and sintering process under different situation.It was founded that the surface staircases of the resin prototype was eliminated and the surface quality was improved after coating process,the thermal stress was decreased and shell cracking was avoided by sintering the ceramic shell with the inner hollow resin prototype under the heating rate of 51C/min.The result showed that,the metal turbine stator had high dimensional accuracy of CT4-CT6 and had a good surface finish within Ra 3.2.