Additive Manufacturing of Ceramics: Issues, Potentialities, and Opportunities

TLDR

Additive manufacturing, which adds material rather than subtracts, has evolved over three decades from polymeric and metallic prototypes to a technology that could revolutionize industrial production, yet ceramic components remain difficult to process due to challenging feedstock and sintering requirements, though successful application could open new uses and markets. The study aims to explore the potential of additive manufacturing to transform industrial production of ceramic components and create new uses and markets. Recent market products demonstrate that additive manufacturing can produce ceramic items that are otherwise impossible to manufacture by conventional means.

Abstract

Additive manufacturing ( AM ) is a technology which has the potential not only to change the way of conventional industrial manufacturing processes, adding material instead of subtracting, but also to create entirely new production and business strategies. Since about three decades, AM technologies have been used to fabricate prototypes or models mostly from polymeric or metallic materials. Recently, products have been introduced into the market that cannot be produced in another way than additively. Ceramic materials are, however, not easy to process by AM technologies, as their processing requirements (in terms of feedstock and/or sintering) are very challenging. On the other hand, it can be expected that AM technologies, once successful, will have an extraordinary impact on the industrial production of ceramic components and, moreover, will open for ceramics new uses and new markets.