SBIR Phase II: High Efficiency Robocasting for Ceramic Product Application

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is in the creation of commercial viability for 3-D printing unique ceramic structures by transforming 3-D printing of advanced ceramics into mass-production additive manufacturing. This will be a new capability for the US. The 3-D structures being considered can't be easily made with traditional manufacturing techniques but have significant advantages over traditionally manufactured geometries. If 3-D printed structures could be manufactured economically, the societal impact could be tremendous ranging from creation of hundreds of US manufacturing jobs to reduction in CO2 emissions. Commercially viable products that can improve existing markets and enable new markets are realistic expectations. Structures for improved filtration, catalytic production of clean fuels, H2 reformers, emission controls for stationary fuel cells, and CO2 sequestration have been inspired by Other Equipment Manufacturers and are already being jointly developed as a result of Phase I progress. Interestingly, these products and more could be produced from the same product lines just by changing a computer program. This great efficiency of infrastructure is a fortunate trait of additive manufacturing. In short, this project will position Robocasting Enterprises as a US exporter into world-wide markets for economic and societal benefit. This project is based on foundational technology called robocasting for 3-D printing ceramic materials. Robocasting is an additive technique demonstrated to be useful for rapid fabrication of ceramics into advanced lattice structures for enhanced filtration and catalytic performance. However, robocast products have been largely limited to products with dimensions less than 2 inches because of problems related to cracking. The goal of this project is to make additive manufacturing much more commercially viable for ceramics by: (a) overcoming the technical challenges for robocasting large ceramic parts and; (b) designing and implementing a scaled-up manufacturing line commercially competitive with traditional manufacturing processes and production from low-wage countries. To achieve these goals; materials, processes, and equipment improvements are required. Developments will include: 1) material innovations to reduce cracking in large ceramic bodies; 2) processing innovations to reduce cracking in large ceramic bodies; 3) equipment and automation innovations to increase production rates. At the end of Phase II it is anticipated that rapid manufacturing of large (i.e., 5-10 inch) advanced ceramic lattice structures will be demonstrated to be commercially viable and penetration into several markets will be significant. The technology will be perfectly poised for investment from larger companies and Phase III growth.