Stereolithography of structural complex ceramic parts

A cost-effective method of complex ceramic parts manufacturing using stereolithography has been developed. The process consists in fabricating ceramic pieces by laser polymerization of an UV curable monomeric system, subsequent removal of organic components and sintering. Highly concentrated suspensions of well dispersed ceramic particles (up to 60 vol%) in a reactive acrylic monomer, with a suitable rheological behaviour for the spreading of thin layers (down to 25 mum) were defined. Adequate cured depth (higher than 200 mum) is obtained even at high scanning speeds. Nevertheless, a compromise has to be found between the cured depth and the cured width to improve the dimensional resolution. The dimensional resolution reached on alumina partterns is about 200 mum with an energy density of 0.05 J . cm(-2). (C) 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers.