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Hydrothermal Assisted Transient Jet Fusion of Ceramics: A Test Case Using Bentonite Clay
Journal article   Open access

Hydrothermal Assisted Transient Jet Fusion of Ceramics: A Test Case Using Bentonite Clay

Levi Kirby, Fan Fei, Chao Wang and Xuan Song
Procedia manufacturing, Vol.48, pp.797-806
2020
DOI: 10.1016/j.promfg.2020.05.116
url
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.promfg.2020.05.116View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

This paper presents a new additive manufacturing process of ceramics, named hydrothermal-assisted transient jet fusion, pairing heat and pressure in attempts to create a highly dense green part. The process utilizes water as a transient binder to fuse particles eliminating the possible contamination caused by traditional organic binders. Inkjet printing was employed to selectively deposit water into a powder bed. Bentonite clay powder was used as a model material for the study, due to its excellent solubility in water. An analysis of the effects of pressure and heat on powder fusion was completed using the compression strength as a quantitative measure. A processing map was created to provide a preliminary understanding of the relationship between the combination of heat and pressure and selective fusion of powder. Test cases were printed to show the capabilities of the developed process. A prediction of the parts compressive strength was done based on previous data collected. Results proved that an increase in temperature culminates a higher compression strength. Results also showed that an increase in pressure contributes to a postponed evaporation of water in the part; once the evaporation has taken place, a denser part has a more dramatic increase in compressive strength.
additive manufacturing bentonite ceramics hydrothermal jet fusion

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