Ceramic powder characterisation

• Main Author: Yip, Jerome Jie-Long
• Other Authors: School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/61412
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Selective Laser Melting (SLM) is an additive manufacturing process which utilizes powder to create highly intricate 3 dimensional (3D) objects with the aid of computer aided design (CAD) files. As the technology grows more popular, it is slowly widening its applications to various industries. Ceramic powders are also an area of interest. The ability to create small and intricate 3 dimensional ceramic objects through non-conventional methods is highly appealing. There is a growing interest in this area of application due to this ability to create small and intricate 3 dimensional ceramic objects relatively easier than conventional methods. However, there are many things to consider while applying this same technology to ceramic powders. Ceramic powders have a lower flowability and tend to agglomerate, hence this can cause problems during the SLM process. One of the ways to increase flowability of ceramic powders is the spray drying process. Preliminary work of this project includes studying the effects of spray drying and the process of spray drying, the process of SLM, studying of powder metallurgy and how flowability is quantified.