3D Ceramic Printing

Since the advent of 3D printers, prototyping has taken a radical turn.
Companies can now face the manufacture of unitary components in a more agile and economic way than ever before.
3D printing has been a revolution, from the manufacture of parts for aesthetic evaluation, to the printing of functional prototypes and, of course, parts that are totally valid for use in industry.

Limitless 3D printing

Relatively few years ago, being able to print directly from a design file became the trigger for a radical change in different areas of the industry.

A new market was born, that of 3D printers and with it a conglomerate of companies with the aim of meeting a growing demand: the printing of parts for prototypes and even for use as commercial parts and components.

Very quickly, this market evolved thanks to R&D, both in printing technology and in materials to be able to manufacture almost any type of product.

3D Ceramic Printing

One of the materials that have recently been incorporated into the 3d printing industry has been ceramics.

Hand in hand with LCM technology (Lithography-Based Ceramic Manufacturing), the printing of ceramic pieces is managing to open up a path that has no limits in the short term.

LCM technology offers the possibility of indirect additive manufacturing for technical and biocompatible ceramic components.

ADVANTAGES OF 3D CERAMIC PRINTING

The features that make 3D printing on ceramics a technological breakthrough are:

High precision for your pieces with a resolution of 60×60 microns and overall process tolerances in the order of 0.1 mm.

Very good surface quality, getting very smooth finishes (0.5 microns Ra).

Fast printing process.

LIMITATIONS OF 3D CERAMIC PRINTING

The main disadvantage is that it is an indirect printing technology. That is to say, once printed, the piece must undergo a series of subsequent processes until it is ready for use.

This is what is known as post-processing and consists of cleaning and finishing the pieces, as well as eliminating the supports created to make printing possible, this can take up to 6 days.

3D Ceramic Printing Services

Since 3D printing on ceramics serves a minority market, the acquisition cost of this type of printer is still a handicap when considering manufacturing on this material.
But on the other hand, some companies that offer this service to third parties are appearing in the market of 3D printing services. In this way, we have the opportunity to have a totally functional piece in ceramic and for almost any application, without the need of an initial investment.