Geometry Limitations in Indirect Selective Laser Sintering of Alumina

TL;DR

This paper compares existing geometry limitations for polymer SLS to those in alumina ceramics produced via indirect SLS, highlighting additional constraints specific to ceramic additive manufacturing.

Contribution

It evaluates the applicability of polymer SLS geometry guidelines to ceramic indirect SLS and identifies unique limitations in ceramic AM.

Findings

Polymer SLS geometry rules partially apply to alumina indirect SLS.

Additional constraints limit complex geometries in ceramic AM.

Guidelines serve as a starting point for ceramic design.

Abstract

Ceramics containing open channels with complex geometries can be manufactured by additive manufacturing (AM) and are of great interest in clean energy technologies. However, design limitations and guidelines for manufacturing these architectures with AM have not yet been established. In this work, we compare previously proposed geometry limitations for polymer selective laser sintering (SLS) to the geometries produced using indirect SLS in alumina. We focus on a subset of model shapes that are simple to produce and measure. We show that these rules provide a starting point for the design and manufacture of ceramic geometries using indirect SLS. However, there are additional considerations for AM of ceramics by indirect SLS that further limit the geometries that can be produced.