Fabrication of inner complex ceramic parts by selective laser gelling

Various raw materials have been used in rapid prototyping (RP) technologies. However, the ceramics were seldom adopted in RP process. None of the ceramic RP processes investigates in detail the formability procedure from a single line, a single layer, to multi-layers. In this paper, a method, selective laser gelling (SLG), for generating SiO2 parts with an overhang structure was proposed and a method of formability for affecting the dimensional accuracy and surface finish of the part was presented. A strategy was also proposed for generating pillared support to reduce a sagged deflection of the overhang and to demonstrate the ability for forming a complex-shaped part with inner channel structure. The effects of process parameters on the dimensional accuracy and surface roughness of the gelled parts were explored and a set of appropriate parameters was obtained.