HRL Laboratories Creates Breakthrough 3D Printed Ceramics Technique

Summary: Malibu's HRL Laboratories' invention of a responsive resin yields breakthrough 3D printed ceramics technique, according to Jan. 1 Science report.

3D-printed ceramic resin developed by HRL Laboratories being fired in high temperature kiln: Science Magazine @sciencemagazine, via Twitter Jan. 1, 2016

A research team at HRL Laboratories in Malibu, California, reveals in a report published online Jan. 1, 2016, in Science magazine the breakthrough invention of a resin that allows for heat-resistant, super strong 3D printed ceramics that may be fabricated as complex shapes.

Ceramic particles do not respond well to casting or machining. They differ from such 3D-compliant materials as metals and thermoplastics in the failure of individual particles to fuse together when heated. Sintering, the process generally applied to 3D printed ceramics, uses powder materials that increase ceramics’ crackability factor by yielding heat-sensitive, porous products of low strength.

Zak Eckel, senior chemical engineer, and Dr. Chaoyin Zhou, senior chemist, at HRL Laboratories overcome ceramics’ traditional limitation to 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, by formulating a pre-ceramic resin of oxygen- and silicon-based polymers that efficiently traps ultraviolet light in the curing steps and thereby removes the need for the crack-inducing additives associated with sintering. After printing, the polymer is exposed to high temperatures that burn off the oxygen atoms to form a dense, non-porous, ultra strong, uncracked silicon carbide ceramic product. The first tests of HRL Laboratories’ formulation mark the first-ever 3D printing of silicon carbide ceramics.

“We have a pre-ceramic resin that you can print like a polymer, then you fire the polymer and it converts to a ceramic. There is some shrinkage involved, but it’s very uniform so you can predict it,” explains Tobias Schaelder, co-author and senior scientist at HRL Laboratories.

HRL Laboratories’ breakthrough 3D printed ceramics technique is amenable to morphing ceramics into any imaginable shape and size. Tobias Schaelder notes: “With our new 3D printing process we can take full advantage of the many desirable properties of this silicon oxycarbide ceramic, including high hardness, strength and temperature capability as well as resistance to abrasion and corrosion.”

Aerospace manufacturing has used traditional ceramics for a long time. Ceramics ideally meet the aerospace sector’s demand for heat resistance, super strength and light weight. Prior to HRL Laboratories’ breakthrough 3D printed ceramics technique, 3D printed ceramics have lacked the desirable qualities offered naturally by traditional ceramics. The geometrical flexibility of HRL Laboratories’ 3D printed ceramics technique finds ready application in aerospace manufacturing, including the design of hypersonic jets.

“If you go very fast, about 10 times speed of sound within the atmosphere, then any vehicle will heat up tremendously because of air friction,” explains Tobias Schaedler, who received his PhD in Materials Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara. “People want to build hypersonic vehicles and you need ceramics for the whole shell of the vehicle.”

The HRL Laboratories’ research team of six co-authors expects the breakthrough 3D printed ceramics technique to apply for printing silicon oxycarbide microlattice and honeycomb cellular materials as large and tiny components. They note: “Additive manufacturing of such materials is of interest for propulsion components, thermal protection systems, porous burners, microelectromechanical systems, and electronic device packaging.”

image of ceramic spiral created by the additive manufacturing process at HRL Laboratories LLC, in Malibu, California: 3Ders.org 3D Printing News @3dersorg, via Twitter Jan. 1, 2016

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

3D-printed ceramic resin developed by HRL Laboratories being fired in high temperature kiln: Science Magazine @sciencemagazine, via Twitter Jan. 1, 2016, @ https://twitter.com/sciencemagazine/status/683037513938763776

image of ceramic spiral created by the additive manufacturing process at HRL Laboratories LLC, in Malibu, California: 3Ders.org 3D Printing News @3dersorg, via Twitter Jan. 1, 2016, @ https://twitter.com/3dersorg/status/682968216449224704

For further information:

3Ders.org 3D Printing News ‏ @3dersorg. "HRL creates ultra-strong flawless 3D printed ceramics,resistant to 1,400 degrees." Twitter. Jan. 1, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/3dersorg/status/682968216449224704

Bashir, Hira. "New 3d Printed Ceramics Could Help Build Future Spaceships." I4U News > News > Latest Science News. Jan. 3, 2016. Updated Jan. 4, 2016.
Available @ http://www.i4u.com/2016/01/102311/3d-printed-ceramics-could-help-build-future-spaceships

"New technique offers strong, flawless 3-D printed ceramics." EurekAlert! > Public releases. Dec. 31, 2015.
Available @ http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-12/aaft-nto122315.php

Popular Mechanics. "3-D Printed Ceramics / PopMech." YouTube. Dec. 31, 2015.
Available @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18MrsJ0bjAY

Science Magazine‏ @sciencemagazine. "A new technique for 3D printing polymer-derived ceramics." Twitter. Jan. 1, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/sciencemagazine/status/683037513938763776