Additive manufacturing of ceramic composites by laser assisted microwave plasma processing, LAMPP.

Additive manufacturing of ceramic materials is difficult because of high temperature required to sinter or melt refractory oxides. Available energy sources, like e.g., laser or electron beam exert high photonic pressure to the surface and promote evaporation and ablation of ceramic materials rather than densification. A new high energy process with low photonic pressure is presented, based on combination of laser and microwave plasma heating, which enables sintering and melting of the ceramic without drilling and ablation of the surface. This new process is abbreviated as LAMPP, Laser Assisted Microwave Plasma Processing. The paper presents details of the equipment developed for LAMPP and analyses the energy efficiency of LAMPP as compared to laser sintering. The mechanism of plasma ignition and sustainment is discussed.