Cure behaviour and mechanical properties of Si3N4 ceramics with bimodal particle size distribution prepared using digital light processing.

Digital light processing is a vital additive manufacturing technology used for manufacturing ceramic parts. The particle size distribution of ceramic suspensions significantly affects the cure behaviour and mechanical properties of ceramics. In this study, the cure behaviour and mechanical properties of Si 3 N 4 ceramics with a bimodal particle size distribution were studied. The results indicated that the suspension with coarse particles had a higher cure depth for a lower absorbance but poor mechanical properties. The bending strength of the samples with the optimal ratio (coarse:fine particles = 3:7) reached a maximum of 728.7 ± 10.33 MPa, which is 16.5% higher than that of the samples prepared using only fine particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]