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Selective laser melting (SLM) is raised as one kind of additive manufacturing (AM) which is based on the discrete-stacking concept. This technique can fabricate advanced composites with desirable properties directly from 3D CAD data. In this research, 316L stainless steel (316L SS) and different fractions of calcium silicate (CaSiO 3 ) composites (weight fractions of calcium silicate are 0%, 5%,10% and 15%, respectively) were prepared by SLM technique with a purpose to develop biomedical metallic materials. The relative density, tensile, microhardness and elastic modulus of the composites were tested, their microstructures and fracture morphologies were observed using optical microscope (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). It was found that the addition of CaSiO 3 particles influenced the microstructure and mechanical properties of specimens significantly. The CaSiO 3 precipitates from the overlap of adjacent tracks and became the origin of the defects. The tensile strength of specimens range 320–722 MPa. The microhardness and elastic modulus are around 250 HV and 215 GPa respectively. These composites were ductile materials and the fracture mode of the composites was mixed mode of ductile and brittle fracture. The 316L SS/CaSiO 3 composites can be a potential biomedical metallic materials in the medical field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indirect selective laser sintering (SLS) was combined with reactive melt infiltration (RMI) to fabricate RB-SiC, and the effects of preform impregnation with different carbon source on the carbonized sample and final RB-SiC were investigated. Results show that the impregnation treatment led to increased bulk density and mechanical strength of samples at all stages. The pore size dwindled and the porosity decreased significantly for the carbonized sample, and the content of Si reduced for the final RB-SiC. The impregnation with PF resin containing 30 % nano carbon black (PFnanoC) seems more promising for the comprehensive properties improvement, the final RB-SiC had a relatively fewer amount of residual pore and carbon and showed superior mechanical properties compared with those of sample impregnated with only PF resin. Kinetics analysis indicates a slower pore-clogging rate under the PFnanoC impregnation condition, which avoided or hindered a too-early infiltration cease during the RMI process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selective laser sintering was combined with reactive melt infiltration to fabricate SiSiC part, and the effects of carbon fiber (C f) on the properties of the SLS green body, the carbonized and final SiSiC sample were investigated. Results show that the addition of an appropriate amount of C f (1.59 wt%~2.97 wt%) can increase the bulk density and geometric precision of the sample at all stages, and improve the mechanical properties of green and carbonized samples. The main phases composed of the SiSiC composite were free Si, a-SiC, β-SiC, plus a very small amount of Al–Si alloy. With 1.59 wt% C f addition, a relatively comprehensive favorable macro-properties of both the green sample and carbonized sample was achieved, and the homogeneous microstructure of the latter favored the decreased free Si content and increased β-SiC content of the final composite. The evolution mechanism of C f added to the raw material is inferred to be the mutual diffusion of [C] and [Si] that occurred at the C f /Si melt boundary leading to the formation of the siliconized C f with relatively large diameter size (24.3 μm) and high aspect ratio (>30). Amorphous C, which derived from the pyrolysis of epoxy resin E12, undergone a dissolution-precipitation mechanism with the formation of fine-grain β-SiC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, different posttreatment methods, including silica‐sol infiltration (SI), vacuum silica‐sol infiltration (vSI), debinding (DB), and pressure‐less sintering (PS), were combined with selective laser sintering (SLS) to fabricate Al2O3‐SiO2 ceramics. The macro‐morphology and microstructure of sample fabricated under different laser processing parameters and posttreatment process were investigated. Results show that the geometric dimension accuracy and surface quality of the final samples can be effectively improved with appropriate SLS parameters and posttreatment. The optimal SLS processing parameters are determined to be 0.15 mm, 10 W, 0.1 mm, and 1500 mm/s for the hatch spacing, laser power, layer thickness, and scanning speed, respectively. The SLS/DB/vIN/FS samples have the smallest linear shrinkage ratio (<1%), the least warpage degree (<3%), and the best surface quality (surface altitude difference <170 μm). Mullite, quartz, corundum, and cristobalite composed the phases of the sample, of which cristobalite came largely from the infiltrated silica‐sol. Since a higher amount of silica‐sol infiltrated into the sample under SLS/DB/vIN/FS process, more cristobalite phase formed in the pore of the sample during sintering, which avoided excessive microstructure shrinkage during sintering and ensured the high geometric accuracy and surface quality of the final sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel method to fabricate high-performance Al 2 O 3 Ceramics by indirect Selective Laser Sintering (idSLS) based on particle packing optimization was reported. Al 2 O 3 ceramics with the particle size distribution (PSD) being adjusted based on a particle packing model was prepared with the idSLS method, and the effects of PSD on the macro-performance and microstructure of the idSLSed ceramics part was investigated. Results show that an appropriate PSD of raw material is not only essential to the good SLS formability of powder bed but also contribute to the favorable sintering characteristics of the SLSed green body through an ideal particle packing. The improvement of overall properties including mechanic strength, dimensional accuracy, and surface flatness of the SLSed green body and the final parts were achieved with a fine-tuned PSD exponent. When the raw material has a PSD exponent of 0.5–0.6, the final ceramic parts showed relatively balanced comprehensive properties of bulk density >2.0 g cm−3, linear change <1.4%, fracture strength >3.97 MPa, compressive strength >5.25 MPa and surface altitude difference <148 μm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]