A light engine cures a ceramic loaded slurry one layer at a time. The printed green body is then debound and sintered until it densifies. It is three operations, and the part can fail at any one of them.
Pixel size in the build plane
Standard layer height, 10 to 100 µm available
Minimum wall thickness, as sintered
Maximum solids loading in the slurry
DLP exposure wavelength
Of theoretical density, typical
Step one
A ceramic powder is dispersed in a photocurable resin at a solids loading high enough that the part can densify later. A blade spreads the slurry across a transparent vat, the vat rotates to re-coat, and a 460 nm DLP engine exposes the cross section from below. The platform lifts, the vat tilts to release the layer, and the next one starts.
Step two
The green body is a ceramic particle held in a polymer network. Debinding burns that network out on a slow ramp, because heating too fast cracks the part long before it reaches the furnace. Sintering then fuses the particles and the part shrinks by 15 to 20% linear. Both halves of this step are the reason we model shrinkage into the build file rather than correcting afterwards.
Step three
As sintered surfaces land between Ra 0.3 and 0.9 µm depending on grade, which is already smooth enough for most functional parts. Where it is not, we grind and polish. Wall thickness and internal channels get verified on optical metrology and CT, and the dimensional report goes out with the first article.
Additive removes the tooling constraint and replaces it with four others. All four are manageable if you know them before you freeze the geometry.
Thinner walls survive printing but tend to crack in debinding. For production parts we prefer 0.3 mm and up unless the geometry forces otherwise.
100 µm minimum, as sinteredWe scale the build file per geometry and validate against the first article. Do not pre-scale your model, send it at nominal size and we handle the compensation.
15 to 20% linear, compensatedLarge flat spans need support structure. Contact marks are inspected after sintering and can be ground flat where the surface matters.
Supports printed, then removedConformal cooling, lattice and honeycomb structures come out in one piece. Uncured slurry is removed before firing, so closed channels need a drain path.
Where the process earns its keepA clean file and three pieces of context are enough to quote.
STEP keeps units and tolerances intact. STL is fine for quoting. Send the model at nominal size, we apply shrinkage compensation.
Temperature, load and atmosphere decide the grade faster than anything else on the drawing. If you already have a material in mind, tell us and we will confirm or push back.
One part and a hundred parts are planned differently. Batch jobs get a fixed parameter set so the last part matches the first.
Ceramic additive manufacturing removes the tooling constraint that limits every conventional route. The gains are geometric, but they also change how fast you can iterate from idea to part.
No mould, no fixture, no tool to wear out. The file is the tool, so a revision is a new build, not a four week tooling lead.
Internal channels, undercuts and lattices print in one piece. Conformal cooling and hollow cores come out without assembly.
Skip tooling entirely. First article samples land in days to weeks, not the months a mould or die would cost you.
Change a wall thickness or a channel and reprint. Design loops that used to need a new tool now need a new file.
Every parameter is logged against the order. The last part of a batch matches the first, and the next batch matches the last.
Multiple geometries share one build plate. Low volume production and spare parts print together without extra setup.
Send the file and the operating conditions. We will tell you what the process can hold, and what it cannot, before you commit.
Quoted within two business days.
Upload a STEP, STL or 3MF file with your material and operating conditions. We return a price and a risk note within two business days.