Three-dimensional printing of ceramic materials

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2022073432-A1
Application number	US-202017015403-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 9, 2020
Priority date	Sep 9, 2020
Publication date	Mar 10, 2022
Grant date	—

Abstract

An ink, and products formed from the ink, formulated at least in part from ceramic particles. The ink is formulated so that it can be used in additive manufacturing processes to form three-dimensional printed bodies. The three-dimensional printed bodies can have graded density and can be infiltrated by an infiltration material.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An ink for additive manufacturing, comprising:
an aqueous suspension of ceramic particles, wherein the aqueous suspension has a solid loading of the ceramic particles of at least 40 vol. %; and at least one viscosifier configured to increase the viscosity of the aqueous suspension.

2 . The ink of claim 1 , wherein the solid loading of the ceramic particles is in a range between 50 vol. % and 59 vol. %.

3 . The ink of claim 1 , wherein the ceramic particles are formed from at least one ultra-high temperature ceramic material.

4 . The ink of claim 1 , wherein the ceramic particles are formed from at least one of B 4 C, ZrB 2 , ZrC, HfC, and HfB 2 .

5 . The ink of claim 1 , wherein the viscosifier is Pluronic F-127.

6 . The ink of claim 1 , wherein the viscosifier is provided in a range between 1 wt. % and 8 wt. %.

7 . The ink of claim 1 , wherein the viscosifier is provided in a range between 4 wt.% and 8 wt.%.

8 . The ink of claim 1 , wherein the ceramic particles have an average particle size in a range between 0.8 μm and 5 μm.

9 . The ink of claim 1 , further comprising a dispersing agent.

10 . The ink of claim 9 , wherein the dispersing agent is polyethyleneimine.

11 . The ink of claim 1 , further comprising a pH modifier.

12 . The ink of claim 11 , wherein the pH modifier is glacial acetic acid.

13 . A method of preparing ink, comprising:
adding ceramic particles to deionized water to form a combination of ceramic particles and deionized water, wherein a quantity of the ceramic particles is added so that the combination has a solid loading of ceramic particles of at least 40 vol. %; mixing the combination of ceramic particles and deionized water to disperse the ceramic particles in the deionized water to form an aqueous suspension; and adding a viscosifier to the aqueous suspension to increase the viscosity of the aqueous suspension.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the solid loading of the ceramic particles is in a range between 50 vol. % and 59 vol. %.

15 . The method of claim 13 , wherein ceramic particles are added incrementally to the deionized water and mixed to form the aqueous suspension.

16 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the viscosifier is Pluronic F-127.

17 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising adding a dispersing agent to the deionized water.

18 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising adding a pH modifier.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the pH modifier is glacial acetic acid.

20 . A three-dimensional printed body, comprising:
a plurality of stacked layers, wherein each of the plurality of stacked layers includes at least one extruded filament, wherein the extruded filament is formed from an ink comprising an aqueous suspension having a solid loading of ceramic particles of at least 40 vol. % and at least one viscosifier.

Assignees

• L Livermore Nat Security Llc

Inventors

• Chandrasekaran Swetha
• Cahill James T
• Du Frane Wyatt L
• Kuntz Joshua D
• Landingham Richard L
• Lu Ryan
• Worsley Marcus A

Classifications

• B33Y70/10

  Composites of different types of material, e.g. mixtures of ceramics and polymers or mixtures of metals and biomaterials · CPC title

• C04B2235/5472

  Bimodal, multi-modal or multi-fraction · CPC title

• C04B2235/5436

  micrometer sized, i.e. from 1 to 100 micron · CPC title

• C04B2235/6021

  Extrusion moulding · CPC title

• C04B35/5622

  based on zirconium or hafnium carbides · CPC title