Study on Debinding and Sintering Processes for Ceramics Fabricated Using Digital Light Processing (DLP) 3D Printing

Ceramics have excellent properties such as hardness and thermal and chemical stability. Therefore, researchers have studied the use of 3D printing to produce complex shapes in tools and structural applications. The debinding and sintering processes for ceramic composite materials manufactured using digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing technology were studied. The slurry used for DLP 3D printing requires debinding and sintering, as it contains ceramics and binders. Therefore, the debinding and sintering processes were measured by TG-DSC curves, and the changes in material characteristics were evaluated by setting the debinding holding time (4, 5, and 6 h) and sintering temperature (1100, 1200, and 1300 degrees C) as parameters. After debinding for 6 h, the density of the ceramic sintered at 1300 degrees C was 1.36 g/cm(2); the linear shrinkage was 22.1%/21.6%/28.5% along the x, y, and z axes, respectively; and the bending strength was 8.58 MPa. As a result of this study, we developed an optimized process for the debinding and sintering of ceramics manufactured through the DLP 3D printing process.