Optimal Process Parameters for 3D Printing of Porcelain Structures

Dental porcelain material is a typical glass ceramic material that is widely used in dental restoration applications. However, there still exists limited knowledge about the fabrication of this type of materials using binder jetting additive manufacturing process. There are several important factors such as saturation level, power level, drying time as well as spread speed, which would potentially affect the accuracy and strength of the printed parts before and after sintering. Therefore, in this research an extensive experimental study was performed to obtain the optimal process parameters for the dental porcelain materials fabricated via ExOne binder jetting system. The results also provide general printing guidelines for the fabrication of glass ceramic materials.