PhD Student: Ollie Osborn
One of the major limitations of traditional ceramic processing methods is their inability to manufacture parts with complex geometries. Attempts to overcome this problem has shifted the attention of industry to additive manufacturing (AM). The project focuses on the AM of ceramic carbides, predominantly silicon carbide and boron carbide, and their composites. The techniques of interest are selective laser sintering (SLS) and a novel method based on photolithography. Both these methods can produce complex shapes, but the material properties of the final ceramic parts currently limit them to prototyping. The aim of the project is to overcome this limitation and produce complex parts with material properties that allow for industrial applications. The project is in collaboration with The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) and MAPP.