Free-to-download, the white paper also provides an insight into how Additive Manufacturing can provide innovative forming opportunities and has the potential to be integrated alongside traditional methods.

Traditional ceramics are typically produced by conventional methods including pressing, slip casting or extrusion, which are appropriate for the large production volumes required by the traditional ceramic industry. However, there are a number of process steps that require a high degree of flexibility in ceramics production, including prototyping, customization, or small run series. Complex shapes are also often difficult/impossible to produce using these conventional techniques – this is where Additive Manufacturing can come to the fore.

Author of the paper, Dr A. Bolarinwa, senior materials engineer at Lucideon, said:

“Additive manufacturing of ceramics is one of the fastest growing areas within the industry. New additive manufacturing techniques and machines are continuously being introduced into the marketplace. This white paper will provide a guide for the best techniques to process a client’s ceramic material which is dependent on the complexity of the final design and the desired property of the printed products.”

Experts at Lucideon can carry out an initial desktop study to identify the most suitable additive manufacturing process for a client’s material, properties required, and its incorporation in the existing manufacturing process. Lucideon’s expertise in the additive manufacturing of polymers and ceramics ensures they can assist clients with not only using additive manufacturing to produce complex parts, but to also provide help with material selection for additive manufacturing and post printing processing. These processes include cold isostatic press, hot isostatic press, debinding and sintering, and glaze development, all of which can provide the desired ceramic properties.

The free white paper can be downloaded via the Resources panel on the right of this page.