Ceramics Processing by Additive Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing (AM) can be a game changer of ceramic industry by opening up new avenues in terms of reduction in cost and ushering in to the domain of designing complicated structure without having dependence on exotic tools. Unlike polymers and metals where AM technology is growing up rapidly, growth of the same in ceramic industry is rather slow due to several technical challenges. However, AM of ceramics is growing steadily as there is considerable urge for producing fully dense defect-free ceramic components with complex geometry for which AM technology comes very handy. Consequently, many AM technologies have been used to fabricate ceramic components with varying results depending upon the nature of the material, AM technology, and part complexity. Thus, beside the nature of the processed ceramic, it is of paramount interest to select right kind of AM process for a particular application in terms of complexity, size density, and surface finish. This review gives present status in AM of ceramics along with some relevant properties of parts produced by AM technology followed by challenges and future prospects of ceramic AM.