μ-mold shape deposition manufacturing of ceramic parts

Rapid Prototyping is a versatile method to build complex-shaped ceramic or metallic parts on a mesoscopic scale. In this work the fabrication of ceramic gas turbine engine parts with Mold Shape Deposition Manufacturing (Mold SDM) is described. Mold SDM exists of two steps: The pattern generation in wax using deposition and machining of wax layers and the pattern transfer process with gel-casting. For parts with feature sizes that are too small for machining, microfabrication methods are used to fabricate the mold. By combining micro- and macro-fabrication, complex parts in a wide variety of sizes can be manufactured. The surface quality of the mold significantly influences the mechanical properties of the final ceramic part. The contribution of the mold quality to the final mechanical properties is studied in this work.