FAST-MED - Research project

Ceramic stereolithography is based on the scraping of an ink, followed by its selective polymerisation to form the printed part, layer by layer. The part is then debinded and sintered to obtain a dense ceramic object. Our work focuses on the fine characterisation of inks to control their response to mechanical and UV light involved at the different stages of the printing process, and to reduce the formation of defects. A detailed rheological study allowed to identify the effect of the different compounds on the structure of inks, affecting their response to scraping. We also propose an improved quantification of laser polymerisation in order to avoid printing inhomogeneous parts. In addition to reducing the occurrence of defects, we have printed composites based on ceria-doped zirconia of high mechanical reliability, a key factor for its application of this material in implantology.