Open Access

Tapes, cast by blade deposition of a lithium aluminosilicate glass slurry, were sintered using a YAG-fiber laser, with the aim of finding suitable parameters for an additive manufacturing process based on layer-wise slurry deposition and selective laser densification. The influence of the laser parameters (output power and scan velocity) on the sintering was evaluated, by scanning electron microscopy and by X-ray diffraction, on the basis of the quality of the processed layer. Well densified samples could be obtained only in a small window of values for the output power and the scan velocity. The measurement of the width of a set of single scanned lines allowed also to estimate the minimum resolution of the system along the layer plane.

Porous Si3N4 ceramics were prepared via partial nitridation and self-propagating high temperature synthesis (SHS) process. Raw Si and additive Y2O3 were mixed and molded under 10 MPa into a compact, the compact was partial nitridation at 1300 °C to form a porous Si/Si3N4, and then it was buried in a Si/Si3N4 bed for SHS to obtain porous Si3N4 with rod-like β-Si3N4 morphology. The processing combined the advantages of the nitridation of Si and SHS with low cost, low shrinkage and time saving. Porous Si3N4 with a porosity of 47%, a strength of 143 MPa were obtained by this method.

Additive Manufacturing (AM) covers a wide range of processes, ranging from rapid prototyping technologies for polymers to directed energy deposition and powder bed fusion processes for metals and ceramics. In all cases, AM processes involve the layer-by-layer deposition of material from a digital file. Even though these processes may be known by a variety of commercial names, the general characteristics of the processes are similar, as are their impacts on different material systems. The flexibility of the process provides unprecedented design freedom by allowing the direct fabrication of complex geometries with unique material combinations. However, the interactions between the high energy density sources (laser and electron beams) and the materials being deposited create complex processing conditions that have a significant impact on the material properties. With the wide ranging possibilities inherent in AM produced components, a fundamental understanding of the process/structure/property relationships across different material systems will allow for specific material properties to be obtained. This Focus Issue of Journal of Materials Research is dedicated to the most recent advances in the characterization of processing/structure/property relationships in AM produced metallic, ceramic, and polymer systems. The breadth of different properties and behaviors across these different materials systems makes the characterization of AM materials extremely complex and a fertile subject for investigation. Many of these issues are addressed in this collection of papers. Such a wide range of unique research areas and the breadth of materials examined in this issue is evidence of the scope of materials issues in additive manufacturing and a glimpse into the future. We are grateful to both the authors and reviewers of the many high-quality manuscripts submitted to this JMR Focus Issue on The Materials Science of Additive Manufacturing.

Ceramic parts possessing an ordered porosity were produced for the first time by powder-based three-dimensional printing of a preceramic polymer followed by pyrolysis in an inert atmosphere. The main parameters involved in the process were investigated, and the precision of the printed and ceramized parts was assessed by means of scanning electron microscopy and micro computed tomography. The influence of two different printing solvents was investigated and the use of a mixture of 1-hexanol and hexylacetate in particular allowed the production of parts with a relative density of 80% both in the polymeric and in the ceramic state. The mixing of a cross-linking catalyst directly with the printing liquid greatly simplified the process, minimizing the necessity of preprocessing the starting powder. Three-dimensional printing of a preceramic polymer not containing any inert or active fillers was proved to be a feasible, convenient and precise process for the production of porous ceramic possessing a complex, ordered structure, such as stretch-dominated lattices.