Lithography-based Ceramic Manufacturing (LCM)

KNMFi Laboratory for Micro- and Nanostructuring

(LCM be available by January 10, 2025 as a standalone technology in the KNMFi proposal system. Until then, please use the 3DP technology to submit proposals.)

Lithography-based Ceramic Manufacturing (LCM) is a method for rapid prototyping with ceramic materials. A UV-curable resin or slurry, containing ceramic particles, is polymerized layer by layer into the desired geometry. The printed parts are then cleaned with special cleaning fluids and thermally postprocessed. This last step consists of debinding, in which the polymer is burned off, and sintering, in which a dense ceramic part is obtained. The principle of this method allows the fabrication of complex geometries, which is hard to achieve with other methods when working with ceramic materials.

Contacts (LCM)
Name Phone E-mail
Hengsbach, Stefan +49 721 608-24441 stefan hengsbach ∂does-not-exist.kit edu
Deutschbein, Celine +49 721 608-26845 celine deutschbein ∂does-not-exist.kit edu
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Brandner, Jürgen +49 721 608-23963 juergen brandner ∂does-not-exist.kit edu

Details (LCM)

Equipment

  • CeraFab S25 from Lithoz GmbH

Features

  • Printing resolution: 25 µm (x/y-axis), 10 to 100 µm (z-axis)
  • Printing limits: 32 mm (X-Axis) 51 mm (Y-Axis) 240mm (Z-Axis)

Materials

  • alumina
  • aluminum nitride
  • silicon nitride
  • piezo ceramics (experimental)
  • glass (experimental)

Limitations/constraints

  • Cavities must have at least an inlet, so that remaining slurry can come out during cleaning
  • Cavities are possible depending on the aspect ratio. At high aspect ratios, cleaning of the cavities may not be successful
  • Realizable wall thickness depends on the design and geometry stability
  • Depending on the design size and needed resolution, the printing time might be very long
  • Challenges:
    Thick walls (>7 mm) => lightweight construction measures
    Large (material) volume => will fall down if to heavy
    Capillaries => difficult in cleaning
    Cavities (without drainage) => no cleaning possible
    Mix of big/thick features and small/thin features => difficult to sinter
    Threads
    Grating
    Small holes <0,2 mm
    Overhangs >3 mm (Support needed)
    Geometric design (better: organic design)
    Large quantities => depending on proposal and size
    Composite parts => experimental
  • Knockout Criteria:
    90° Angles
    Sharp edges
    “Only one side opened” channels

Data

  • STL-format
  • Use correct units in CAD model for exporting to STL file