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Rapid Prototyping of Piezoelectric Ceramics via Selective Laser Sintering and Gelcasting
Author(s) -
Guo Dong,
Li Longtu,
Cai Kai,
Gui Zhilun,
Nan Cewen
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of the american ceramic society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 196
eISSN - 1551-2916
pISSN - 0002-7820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1151-2916.2004.tb19938.x
Subject(s) - materials science , ceramic , sintering , lead zirconate titanate , composite material , selective laser sintering , green body , dispersant , slurry , piezoelectricity , mold , dielectric , suspension (topology) , dispersion (optics) , ferroelectricity , optoelectronics , physics , optics , mathematics , homotopy , pure mathematics
This article presents a new lost mold rapid prototyping method which combines selective laser sintering (SLS) and gelcasting techniques for fabricating piezoelectric ceramics. SLS was used to fabricate sacrificial molds of the desired structure of the ceramic part. Then aqueous PZT (lead zirconate titanate) suspension was cast in the mold and solidified in situ through formation of a three‐dimensional network gel. Because the polymer mold can be easily removed at the initial stage of sintering and the gelcast PZT body has a high green strength, the desired geometry of the PZT part can be completely retained after sintering of the ceramics. Complex‐shaped PZT parts were successfully fabricated after using concentrated PZT suspension with low viscosity. Densities and electrical properties, such as the d 33 , the relative permittivity ε, the dielectric loss tg δ and the electromechanical coupling factor K p of the gelcast PZT parts were also compared with those of the die‐pressed PZT samples. The results indicated that the gel‐forming process did not deteriorate the electrical properties of the samples, if proper dispersant was selected in developing concentrated ceramic slurry.