The powder bed selective laser process (sintering/melting) has revolutionised many industries, including aerospace and biomedicine. However, PBSLP of ceramic remains a formidable challenge. Here, we present a unique slurry-based approach for fabricating high-strength ceramic components instead of traditional PBSLP. A special PBSLP platform capable of 1000 °C pre-heating was designed for this purpose. In this paper, PBSLP of Al2O3 was accomplished at different SiC loads up to 20 wt%. Several specimens on different laser powers (120 W to 225 W) were printed. When the SiC content was 10 wt% or more, the chemical interaction made it difficult to process. Severe melt pool disturbances led to poor sintering and melting. The structural analysis revealed that the micro-structure was significantly affected by the weight fraction of SiC. Interestingly, when the content was less than 2 wt%, it showed significant improvement in the microstructure during PBSLP and no effects of LPS or chemical interaction. Particularly, a crack pinning effect could be clearly seen at 0.5 wt%.
Keywords: 3D printing; additive manufacturing; ceramic; composites; selective laser sintering/melting (PBSLP).