Strategic Manufacturing Initiative: Solid Freeform Fabrication: Ceramics

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The objective of this research is to develop the engineering technology base to produce structural parts in ceramics from both solid powders and gas precursors. If successful, this technology has the potential to produce order-of-magnitude productivity improvements in design visualization, prototyping, and parts-on- demand and to dramatically shorten development cycle times for engineering systems by breaking the modelmaking/prototyping bottleneck. This technology does not directly compete with conventional processes for large production numbers, but competes in low production number situations such as the production of prototype parts, design visualization models, casting patterns, and parts on demand. The feasibility of Solid Freeform Fabrication has been experimentally demonstrated using Selective Laser Sintering on polymeric materials, a process developed during our research in this area.