ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING WITH CERAMICS

The purpose of this project is to design a device that improves the performance of a ceramic additive manufacturing (AM) 3D printer constructed by Army Research Labs (ARL). ARL modified a standard LulzBot Taz 6 3D printer to print a ceramic slurry mixture of Boron Carbide (B4C) and Silicon Carbide (SiC) instead of plastic filament. Since these compounds are often used in body armor, ARL has been observing the effects on properties when these components are 3D printed. The current printer utilizes an auger in the print head to receive and mix the B4C and SiC slurries and extrude the combined slurry out of the print nozzle. The current design is limited in its ability to thoroughly mix the slurries during the printing process. Therefore, team Concept Creators has designed an improved auger that will increase the mixedness of the slurries, thus increasing the print quality of the composite specimen.