Enhancing reproducibility and final density of alumina ceramics fabricated through direct ink writing
JOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN CERAMIC SOCIETY, cilt.47, sa.1, 2027 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 47 Sayı: 1
- Basım Tarihi: 2027
- Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2026.118790
- Dergi Adı: JOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN CERAMIC SOCIETY
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Chemical Abstracts Core, Chimica, Compendex, INSPEC, Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO), Engineering Source (EBSCO)
- Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
The direct ink writing (DIW) of ceramics is limited by inconsistent densification, despite the technique's ability to process high-solid suspensions with minimal organic content. This study isolates the core causes of density scatter in alumina DIW and presents a defect-driven strategy for reproducible, near-full densification. Although the base formulation demonstrated rheological printability, sintered densities ranged from 88% to 97%. Scanning electron microscopy and micro-computed tomography traced these variations to entrapped air and dryinginduced cavities. Vibration-assisted degassing, controlled drying, and an antifoaming additive were implemented alongside binder refinement, enabling higher solids loading with reduced organic content. The optimized formulation yielded 99.4% maximum relative density, with 75% of specimens exceeding 98% with a standard deviation of 0.6% under mild sintering conditions (1600 degrees C, 2 h). Average green-to-sintered lateral linear shrinkage of 17.7%+/- 0.3% confirmed dimensional stability. These results establish that reproducible high-density ceramic DIW requires integrated control over ink chemistry, defect mitigation, and processing variables.