Debinding behaviour of feedstock for material extrusion additive manufacturing of zirconia

ABSTRACT

Material Extrusion Additive Manufacturing (MEAM) is mainly used for the production of polymeric components. Using feedstocks similar to those of powder injection moulding, MEAM of ceramic components is possible. MEAM with filaments is also called Fused Filament Fabrication. Feedstocks are used as filaments; this imposes new requirements such as flexibility for spooling, stiffness to avoid buckling and constant diameter to ensure a consistent mass flow. Additionally, the binder should be removed without damaging the shaped part. In this paper, the debinding behaviour of MEAM feedstocks with zirconia was investigated. It was observed that higher temperature increases the debinding rate, but cracks occurred; the addition of a surfactant speeds up the debinding rate and reduces cracks; and a mixture of 10% isopropanol and 90% cyclohexane initially decreases swelling during debinding, but the debinding rate and the appearance of cracks is unaffected.

KEYWORDS:

• Material extrusion
• fused filament fabrication
• feedstock
• ceramic

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Christian Kukla is an expert in polymer engineering and the polymer-related processes in powder metallurgy MIM and Additive Manufacturing-AM/Material Extrusion. He is working in the field of MIM since 1995 and in the field of AM since 2012. His current position is at the Industrial Liaison Department of the Montanuniversitaet Leoben, where he is responsible for R&D projects together with the industry.

Santiago Cano received the M. Sc. degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Castilla-La Mancha in 2016. After the completion of his studies, he started working at the Institute of Polymer Processing of the Montanuniversitaet Leoben, where he is currently pursuing his PhD degree. His research interests include the production of ceramics and metals by powder injection moulding and fused filament fabrication, with focus on the development of binder formulations.

Dario Kaylani received the B.Sc. degree in Polymer Engineering and Science from theMontanuniversitaet Leoben in 2017. Currently he is pursuing his M.Sc. degree at the Institute of Polymer Processing of the Montanuniversitaet Leoben. His research interests are the processing and characterization of polymer composites, including feedstocks for powder injection moulding.

Stephan Schuschnigg received his M.Sc. Degree in polymer engineering at the Montanuniversitaet Leoben. His PhD deals with the solid conveying zone of single screw extruders. Currently he is the work group leader for Additive Manufacturing and Extrusion at the Institute of Polymer Processing in the Department of Polymer Engineering and Science. His main research is material extrusion and the use of highly filled systems.

Prof. Clemens Holzer received his PhD in Polymer Engineering and Science at Montanuniversitaet Leoben. After seven years in the industry at Huber+Suhner, Switzerland as research engineer, head of production and finally head of research and development in a business unit he was deputy head of the Institute of Polymer Nanotechnology INKA and associate professor at FHNW, Switzerland. Since 2009 head of Polymer Processing at the Department of Polymer Engineering and Science and full professor at Montanuniversitaet Leoben. His main research themes are injection moulding, extrusion, compounding, recycling, additive manufacturing, simulation and determination of material data.

Joamin Gonzalez-Gutierrez received the PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2014. Currently he is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Polymer Processing, Montauniversitaet Leoben, Austria. His research interest includes powder injection moulding, additive manufacturing, and development and characterisation of highly filled polymeric systems.

ORCID

Christian Kukla http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2233-009X

Santiago Cano http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6361-6185

Stephan Schuschnigg http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2601-967X

Clemens Holzer http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5149-7895

Joamin Gonzalez-Gutierrez http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4737-9823

Additional information

Funding

This work was financially supported by the European Commission for projects REProMag and CerAMfacturing under grant agreements 636881 and 678503, respectively.