Question

A.How to manufacture ceramics of complicated dimension features (i.e., cellular, porous, scaffold) since they cannot be machined or cut?

B. How to print metal materials at room temperature? (open questions, think about phase diagram and check periodic table)

Answer 1

A. Celluar ceramics and scaffolds are the special class of ceramics that are porous in nature.They are prepared using a concept called powder metallurgy.Here the raw material is heat treated to a temperature below melting point of the ceramic and then when it reaches a specific color, say green, it is then put in kins and chemically treated to change its structural properties and porous nature.A lot of methods have been in use like Ball milling and sintering.

B. A method called liquid 3-D printing is being used to print objects using metals that have the melting temperature just above room temperatures.Such metals are melted and then the metal ink is used in a 3-D array printer to create objects of defined shapes and purposes.Since the metals attain equilibrium in temperature they become solid again and thus form the desired object.