October AMP_Digital

A D V A N C E D M A T E R I A L S & P R O C E S S E S | O C T O B E R 2 0 1 9 3 3 TECHNICAL SPOTLIGHT A dditive manufacturing (AM) has been blazing trails since its incep- tion a few decades ago. The tech- nology is continually improving inquality, build size, material choice, and applica- tionpossibilities, slashing time-to-market and production costs in the automotive, aerospace, healthcare, dental, electron- ics, and machinery industries, to name but a few. Essentially, the technology has evolved from predominantly build- ing prototypes to manufacturing end-use parts that improve products by reducing weight, production times, and tooling costs, or delivering complex geometries. So far, however, these benefits have been almost exclusive to the worlds of plastic and to some degree metal manufacturing. The adoption of AM in technical ceramics is still in its infancy, despite its potential to deliv- er all the benefits seen in metals and plastics. ATTRACTIVE MARKET POTENTIAL Ceramic AM is a relatively new discipline, focusing on real parts for end-user applications, and is seeing rising levels of interest from leading manufacturers. The market shows im- pressive potential, as evidenced by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.4% from 2015 to 2017 [1] . In fact, experts predict that the global mar- ket for the 3D printing of technical ce- ramics will rise at a CAGR of 25.6% for 2017-2022, growing from $174 million in 2017 to $544 million in 2022 [2] , and could be worth $3.1 billion [3] by 2027. Technical ceramic AM will comple- ment and, in certain cases, replace tra- ditional ceramic manufacturing meth- ods such as ceramic injection mold- ing (CIM), hot isostatic pressing (HIP), and various casting methods, especial- ly when facing short to medium runs of complex parts. In addition, as in plas- tic and metal production, industry analysts forecast that ceramic manu- facturers could achieve significant sav- ings in time and cost while retaining part performance. Technical ceramics are used in a vast number of industries today due to their extraordinary properties, such as high temperature resistance, tough- ness, strength, chemical resistance, abrasion resistance, and more. For cer- tain applications, ceramics surpass metal capabilities and are in growing demand in leading industries. As mentioned, technical ceramic parts are produced using several tradi- tional methods, including CIM, HIP, ex- trusion, casting, and others. All of these methods require tools that can be ex- pensive—particularly when calculat- ing cost per part for short runs. AM has proven to be a valuable replacement of traditional manufacturing methods by eliminating the tooling process, result- ing in significant time and cost savings. As an additive process, consid- erable benefits are gained in design freedom. In a subtractive manufactur- ing process, access to internal cavities of parts can be restricted, limiting tool paths. Conversely, with AM, complex geometries are as easy to produce as simple parts. Further, AM technologies allow multiple parts to be built simul- taneously on the same build tray. This could include various design iterations, different size options, parts for an as- sembly, or a repeated part for testing. All of these possibilities are available within a matter of hours—and all man- ufacturers need is an AM system and a digital file. ADVANCED PART PROPERTIES Ceramic AM parts achieve physical properties equal to traditionally made parts. However, geometric properties can change according to the manufac- turing technology used and may re- quire finishing, potentially adding time and cost to the process. In this regard, ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING IN TECHNICAL CERAMICS Groundbreaking additive manufacturing technology is gaining traction in technical ceramics.