Novel Prospects and Possibilities in Additive Manufacturing of Ceramics by means of Direct Inkjet Printing

Direct inkjet printing is a versatile additive manufacturing technology to produce complex three-dimensional components from ceramic suspensions. By successive printing of cross-sections, the sample is built up layer by layer. The aim of this paper is to show the different possibilities of direct inkjet printing of ceramic suspensions, like printing of oxide (3Y-TZP, Al2O3, and ZTA) or nonoxide (Si3N4, MoSi2) ceramics, featuring microstructures, laminates, three-dimensional specimens, and dispersion ceramics. A modified thermal inkjet printer was used and the ink replaced by aqueous ceramic suspensions of high solids content. The suspensions were processed in an attrition mill or agitator bead mill to reduce the grain size