Medical implants and tools made by suspension-based additive manufacturing method

The team from the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS in Dresden believe the method has no limitations in terms of type or colour of material for the target components.

“This allows us to process ceramics, glass, plastic, or even metal using thermoplastic 3D printing. One more advantage is that several different materials can be produced at the same time,” said Dr Tassilo Moritz from Fraunhofer IKTS’s Materials and Processes business division.

The key to their technology lies in preparing optimum ceramic or metallic suspensions. The mixtures are said to rely on a thermoplastic binder that becomes liquid at temperatures of around 80°C. This is a crucial point in additive manufacturing as it means the suspensions can quickly cool down and one layer after another can be deposited in sequence. In this binder, they disperse powder particles of metal, glass, or ceramics.

”Our mixtures are very homogenous and we precisely set the optimum level of viscosity. Only then can the printer put out the droplet size suitable for the particular component contour. Our mixtures can’t be too liquid or thick. To achieve this, we have to master the preparation technique,” Moritz said in a statement.