Lithography-based ceramic manufacturing (LCM) - Viscosity and cleaning as two quality influencing steps in the process chain of printing green parts

The advantages of suspension based Additive Manufacturing (AM), e.g. the lithography-based ceramic manufacturing (LCM), are high structural resolution, and compared to other available AM techniques, the manufacturing of dense (>99%) ceramic components with high performance. This novel manufacturing technique permits innovative designs, new types of ceramic components, and offers a range of new applications; like micro reactors, catalyst supporting structures or heat exchangers, as well as cutting edge biomedical devices and personalized medical products. Some examples of personalized medical products are customised ceramic knee implants or custom spinal fusion implants. Producing these implants using LCM would allow product offerings not possible before. However, the LCM process chain includes several open points, which have to be solved, in order to get high quality end results. In this paper, the development of suspensions (curable slurries) based on different binders, and the procedures for cleaning printed parts are thoroughly considered.