Direct ink writing of alumina threedimensional structures

Soon, Ming Siang (2023) Direct ink writing of alumina threedimensional structures. Final Year Project, UTAR.

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Abstract

Currently, there is a research study of addition TiO2 to alumina ceramic in the application of binder jet 3D printing but not yet in direct ink writing (DIW). Thus, our project tried to explore the possibility of adopting DIW method so that there will be more options to perform 3D printing of alumina ceramic. Addition of 1 wt% of TiO2 was chosen as alumina ceramic doped with this amount of TiO2 sintered under a lower temperature was found to be the most beneficial. TiO2 can also be used as a sintering aids as it helps to lower down sintering temperature while resulting in high densification of the sintered printed structure. This project aims to investigate the effects of TiO2 addition on the rheological properties of the alumina ink and the sinterability of the sintered printed part. Firstly, alumina powder was doped with TiO2 powder through ball milling process. Next, cellulose acetate was dissolved in acetone and mixed with the powder mixture. The alumina slurry was loaded into syringes which loaded to a 3D printer to perform printing.The green part produced underwent thermal debinding and sintering processs and followed by the characterization tests. Another syringe loaded with alumina slurry was used to perform rheological tests. From the result, it was found that the addition of TiO2 barely affect the particle size distribution and rhelogical result. But, from the result, it was noted that the surface area per gram, relative density, Vickers hardness value as well as volume shrinkage increased due to the TiO2. Thus, TiO2 is such a good additive as it helps to lower down sintering temperature while improving the physical and mechanical properties of the sintered part and is proven workable in the application of the DIW technique.

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