Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Mechanical Engineering Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 7 of 7

Full-Text Articles in Mechanical Engineering

Fabricating Zirconia Parts With Organic Support Material By The Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion Process, Wenbin Li, Amir Ghazanfari, Devin Mcmillen, Andrew Scherff, Ming Leu, Gregory Hilmas Jan 2017

Fabricating Zirconia Parts With Organic Support Material By The Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion Process, Wenbin Li, Amir Ghazanfari, Devin Mcmillen, Andrew Scherff, Ming Leu, Gregory Hilmas

Faculty Publications, Mechanical Engineering

Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion (CODE) is an extrusion-based additive manufacturing process recently developed for fabricating dense, functional ceramic components. This paper presents a further development of this process and focuses on fabricating 3 mol% yttria-stabilized zirconia (3YSZ) components that cannot be fabricated without using support structures. The 3YSZ paste is deposited through the main nozzle, and a polycaprolactone (PCL) pellet feedstock is melted and deposited through an auxiliary nozzle to build support structures. After a green part is printed and dried, the support structures are removed by heating the part to ~70°C to melt the PCL. The part is then sintered …


Mechanical Characterization Of Parts Produced By Ceramic On‐Demand Extrusion Process, Amir Ghazanfari, Wenbin Li, Ming Leu, Gregory Hilmas Jan 2017

Mechanical Characterization Of Parts Produced By Ceramic On‐Demand Extrusion Process, Amir Ghazanfari, Wenbin Li, Ming Leu, Gregory Hilmas

Faculty Publications, Mechanical Engineering

Ceramic On‐Demand Extrusion (CODE) is an additive manufacturing process recently developed to produce dense three‐dimensional ceramic components. In this paper, the properties of parts produced using this freeform extrusion fabrication process are described. High solids loading (~60 vol%) alumina paste was prepared to fabricate parts and standard test methods were employed to examine their properties including the density, strength, Young's modulus, Weibull modulus, toughness, and hardness. Microstructural evaluation was also performed to measure the grain size and critical flaw size. The results indicate that the properties of parts surpass most other ceramic additive manufacturing processes and match conventional fabrication techniques.


A Novel Extrusion-Based Additive Manufacturing Process For Ceramic Parts, Amir Ghazanfari, Wenbin Li, Ming Leu, Gregory Hilmas Jan 2016

A Novel Extrusion-Based Additive Manufacturing Process For Ceramic Parts, Amir Ghazanfari, Wenbin Li, Ming Leu, Gregory Hilmas

Faculty Publications, Mechanical Engineering

An extrusion-based additive manufacturing process, called the Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion (CODE) process, for producing three-dimensional ceramic components with near theoretical density is introduced in this paper. In this process, an aqueous paste of ceramic particles with a very low binder content (<1 vol%) is extruded through a moving nozzle at room temperature. After a layer is deposited, it is surrounded by oil (to a level just below the top surface of most recent layer) to preclude non-uniform evaporation from the sides. Infrared radiation is then used to partially, and uniformly, dry the just-deposited layer so that the yield stress of the paste increases and the part maintains its shape. The same procedure is repeated for every layer until part fabrication is completed. Several sample parts for various applications were produced using this process and their properties were obtained. The results indicate that the proposed method enables fabrication of large, dense ceramic parts with complex geometries.


Properties Of Partially Stabilized Zirconia Components Fabricated By The Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion Process, Wenbin Li, Amir Ghazanfari, Devin Mcmillen, Ming Leu, Gregory Hilmas, Jeremy Watts Jan 2016

Properties Of Partially Stabilized Zirconia Components Fabricated By The Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion Process, Wenbin Li, Amir Ghazanfari, Devin Mcmillen, Ming Leu, Gregory Hilmas, Jeremy Watts

Faculty Publications, Mechanical Engineering

The Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion (CODE) process is a novel additive manufacturing process for fabricating dense ceramic components from aqueous pastes of high solids loading. In this study, 3 mol% Y2O3 stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystal (3Y-TZP) parts were fabricated using the CODE process. The parts were then dried in a humidity controlled environmental chamber and sintered under atmospheric pressure. Mechanical properties of the sintered parts were examined using ASTM standard test techniques, including density, Young’s modulus, flexural strength, Weibull modulus, fracture toughness and Vickers hardness. The microstructure was analyzed, and grain size was measured using scanning electron microscopy. The results compared …


Methods Of Extrusion On Demand For High Solids Loading Ceramic Paste In Freeform Extrusion Fabrication, Wenbin Li, Amir Ghazanfari, Ming Leu, Robert Landers Jan 2015

Methods Of Extrusion On Demand For High Solids Loading Ceramic Paste In Freeform Extrusion Fabrication, Wenbin Li, Amir Ghazanfari, Ming Leu, Robert Landers

Faculty Publications, Mechanical Engineering

Fabrication of highly dense parts with complex geometry by paste-extrusion-based solid freeform fabrication processes requires a precise control of the extrusion flow rate to dispense material on demand, which is often referred as Extrusion-On-Demand (EOD). The extrusion process for aqueous ceramic pastes is complex and difficult to control due to their non-Newtonian behavior, compressibility and inhomogeneity. In this study, three methods of EOD (based on ram extruder, needle valve, and auger valve) are introduced and investigated for the extrusion of high solids loading (i.e., >50%, volumetric) aqueous alumina paste. Optimal extrusion process parameters for these methods are determined through printing …


Optimal Rastering Orientation In Freeform Extrusion Fabrication Processes, Amir Ghazanfari, Wenbin Li, Ming Leu, Robert Landers Jan 2015

Optimal Rastering Orientation In Freeform Extrusion Fabrication Processes, Amir Ghazanfari, Wenbin Li, Ming Leu, Robert Landers

Faculty Publications, Mechanical Engineering

Many researchers have tried to optimize the build direction of additively manufactured parts to minimize the vertical staircase effect. However, the horizontal staircase effect should also be considered when fully dense parts are to be fabricated. In this paper, part inaccuracy due to the horizontal staircase effect is considered in order to determine the optimal rastering orientation in building the part. An algorithm is developed to estimate this inaccuracy and a technique is proposed to minimize it. The effect of rastering orientation on staircase errors is examined, and the particle swarm optimization method is used to determine the optimum rastering …


Planning Freeform Extrusion Fabrication Processes With Consideration Of Horizontal Staircase Effect, Amir Ghazanfari, Wenbin Li, Ming Leu, Robert Landers Jan 2015

Planning Freeform Extrusion Fabrication Processes With Consideration Of Horizontal Staircase Effect, Amir Ghazanfari, Wenbin Li, Ming Leu, Robert Landers

Faculty Publications, Mechanical Engineering

An algorithm has been developed to estimate the “horizontal” staircase effect and a technique is proposed to reduce this type of geometrical error for freeform extrusion fabrication processes of 3D “solid” parts. The adaptive rastering technique, proposed in this paper, analyzes the geometry of each layer and changes the width of each line of the raster adaptively in order to reduce the staircase error and increase the productivity simultaneously. For each line, the maximum width that results in a staircase error smaller than a predefined threshold is determined for decreasing the fabrication time or increasing the dimensional accuracy, or both. …