Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS
One of the most productive additive manufacturing processes is binder jetting (CerAm BJT). The powder-based process allows the simultaneous production of multiple components or single large-format components. For this purpose, powder is applied in layers over a construction area and selectively bonded by means of a printing fluid. This bonding is usually based on an organic material, which is added to the printing fluid or the powder.
After the printing process, the unwetted powder is removed from the components in a devesting step. The supporting powder bed allows structures to be manufactured without a support structure compared to other additive manufacturing processes. Due to the powder-based process, the resulting green densities are low, depending on the starting material. This offers the possibility of producing porous components with an open-pore structure as well as dense components via liquid phase sintering, infiltration or reaction sintering.
Established materials: Carbide (WC-Co), Alumina (Al2O3), Silicon Carbide (SiC)
Materials under development: cermets (TiCN-based), boron carbide (B4C), cordierite, sandstone, hydroxyapatite (HAp), cubic boron nitride (cBN)
Services offered
- Development of starting materials with suitable flowability
- Feasibility studies with material selection on up to three different binder jetting lines
- Development offer incl. training and transfer based on customer-specific CAD data
