Direct Laser Engineered Net Shaping of Al2O3/TiO2 Multiphase Ceramic Structures

Abstract:

The direct laser engineered net shaping ceramic structure is a kind of additive manufacturing technology which uses the high energy laser beam to directly melt ceramic powders and then the melted material deposites to form three dimensional parts. In this technology, doping binder or sintering agent is needless, traditional shaping and sintering steps will be made one. Furthermaore, this technology omits steps, mixing, drying and discharging, and can achieve complex ceramic parts of high-purity compact shape and preparation. In this paper, direct fabrication of Al₂O₃/TiO₂(13 wt.%) ceramic structure is conducted by laser engineered net shaping system and the deposition process is studied. XRD and SEM are used to analyze the phase and microstructure. Results show that the main phases of fabricated specimens are Al2TiO5and Al2O3, and the Al2O3 columnar grains distributed in the Al2TiO5 matrix. Due to the presence of the chemical reaction in the process, the Al2O3/TiO2 ceramic has a certain amount of macro pores, but it still has a micro hardness of more than 21 GPa, and the bending strength is up to 170 MPa. The study shows that laser engineered net shaping technology can realize the complete melting and solidification of ceramic materials, and provides a new choice for direct and rapid fabrication of high performance ceramic structures.