Influence of infill patterns on mechanical properties of 3D printed Al2O3 ceramics via fused filament fabrication
Constance L. Gnanasagaran, Karthikeyan Ramachandran, Vishaal Harikrishna Kumar, Vishwanathan Ramachandran, Murali Rangarajan
Abstract
Alumina ceramic components are considered for various applications including aerospace and biomedical owing to its physical and mechanical properties. However, manufacturing complex ceramic shapes with tailored porosity has been an issue via conventional processes. In this study, Al2O3 ceramics were manufactured via Fused filament fabrication (FFF) with different infill patterns i.e., circular, linear, hexagonal and to understand its hardness and indentation fracture toughness. X-ray diffraction peaks corresponded towards corundum supported via elemental mapping indicating the purity of FFF samples. Microstructural analysis indicated presence of micro- and macro-porosities due to binder removal via sintering process. FFF printed samples outperformed their slip-cast counterpart in hardness and fracture toughness irrespective of the infill pattern with linear and hexagonal showing maximum hardness (23.48 ± 0.3 GPa) and indentation fracture toughness (4.49 ± 0.3 MPa m0.5). This research sheds light on the prospects of FFF being utilized to fabricate intricate components with controlled porosity.