Research on selective laser sintering of Kaolin–epoxy resin ceramic powders combined with cold isostatic pressing and sintering

In order to fabricate traditional products with complex shapes consisting of Kaolin ceramic, selective laser sintering (SLS) combined with cold isostatic pressing (CIP) process was used to consolidate Kaolin powder with additive of epoxy resin E06. To begin preparing the material, epoxy resin (10 wt%) and Kaolin were combined through mechanical mixing, which provided a good fluidity for SLS. Investigations on the shrinkage and micro topography of Kaolin–epoxy resin SLS samples were conducted to optimize the laser sintering parameters. It was found that SLS samples represented acceptable shrinkage and high density when laser energy density was 0.3300–0.3763 J/mm2. Then the SLS samples were processed by CIP to eliminate the pores in green ceramics. Finally, the optimized SLS/CIP Kaolin samples were debinded and sintered to produce crack-free Kaolin ceramics. The “Yellow Duck” Kaolin ceramic product was fabricated by combining SLS/CIP with colored glazing. The study shows a novel and promising approach to fabricate complex traditional ceramic products via SLS combined with CIP and sintering.