A fast process for the production of ceramic patterns is presented, utilizing inkjet printing for laying down the pattern digitally. An aqueous ink, containing glycols and surfactants, was printed onto various substrates to act as an adhesive layer for a ceramic mineral powder. The powder was deposited in a dry powder spraying process and formed a uniform layer in contact with the adhesive ink. Excess powder that was not fixed by the ink was blown away by air pressure in the following step, before the pattern was laser sintered. The process was also demonstrated for multi-color ceramic patterns, by applying different colored pigments on successively printed ink patterns. Optimized ink composition and process parameters were investigated, to be able to avoid color changes of the final pattern after laser sintering. A prototype production unit is presented that implements the developed process.
Wolfgang Voit, Werner Zapka, Kjell Broström, Frederic Moscou, Sebastien Verilhac, "Production of Sintered Ceramic Patterns Using an Inkjet Printing Process" in Proc. IS&T Digital Fabrication Conf., 2005, pp 43 - 47, https://doi.org/10.2352/ISSN.2169-4451.2005.21.2.art00016_3