Digital Light Projection (DLP)-based ceramic additive manufacturing is a high-resolution 3D printing technique that enables the fabrication of complex ceramic components through photopolymerization. The process begins with the preparation of a ceramic slurry, which consists of finely dispersed ceramic powders (such as alumina, zirconia, or silicon carbide) mixed with a photosensitive resin containing photoinitiators and additives for stability and flow. This slurry is selectively cured layer by layer using projected ultraviolet (UV) light patterns from a Digital Micromirror Device (DMD), which corresponds to the cross-sections of a 3D CAD model. Each exposed layer solidifies, forming the “green part” composed of ceramic particles bound in a polymer matrix.

After printing, the green part undergoes thermal debonding (debinding) to remove the organic resin and binders. This step involves slow, controlled heating to prevent internal stresses, cracking, or deformation, resulting in a porous "brown body" with low mechanical strength.

The final step is sintering, where the debound part is heated to high temperatures to fuse the ceramic particles together. This densification process strengthens the structure and reduces porosity, producing a mechanically robust final ceramic component. Sintering also causes shrinkage, which must be accounted for during the design phase.

Overall, DLP-based ceramic additive manufacturing combines high accuracy, surface quality, and design flexibility, making it suitable for producing intricate ceramic parts in fields like biomedical engineering, aerospace, electronics, and advanced structural applications. It enables rapid prototyping and small-scale production of ceramics with complex geometries not achievable through traditional methods.

Present facility is for printing only.