Recent developments in robocasting of ceramics and multimaterial deposition

Robocasting is a freeform fabrication technique for dense ceramics and composites that is based on layer-wise deposition of highly loaded colloidal slurries. The process is essentially binderless with less than 1% organics and parts can be fabricated, dried, and completely sintered in less than 24 hours. This overview will highlight recent materials developments for structural applications and modeling of slurry flow. Fabrication of preforms for alumina/metal composites will be discussed as well as techniques for multimaterial deposition in both graded structures and discrete placement of fugitive materials.