INVESTIGATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF CLAY MIXTURE FEEDSTOCK FOR EXTRUSION-BASED ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

The extrusion-based AM technique has been recently employed for rapid ceramic components fabrication due to scalability and cost-efficiency. This paper investigated aspects of the extrusion technique to print ceramic materials. Specifically, we assessed and developed a process recipe of the formulations (the composition of water and ethanol-based clay mixtures) and mixing processes. Different clay paste formulations were prepared by varying clay, water, ethanol ratios. The viscosity of clay paste was measured using a DV3T Viscometer. Afterward, the produced clay paste was used as a feedstock for WASP Delta 60100 3D printer for computer-controlled extrusion deposition. We evaluated the quality of the clay paste based on (i) pumpability, (ii) printability, and (iii) buildability. Pressure and flow rate were monitored to assess the pumpability. The nozzle was monitored for continuous material extrusion to assess printability. The maximum layer-without-collapse height was monitored to assess the buildability. This study correlated the mixture composition and process parameters, to the viscosity of the mixture, at the same printing speed. We found that 85 wt% clay, 5 wt% water, 10 wt% ethanol paste formulation, with the viscosity of 828000 cP, 202400 cP, 40400 cP at 1, 5, and 50 rpm, respectively, demonstrates good pumpability, as well as best printability and buildability.