Development of Ni/sic Composites Using Direct Ink Writing 3D Printing Process

Silicon Carbide (SiC) is an advanced ceramic material known for its exceptional physical, chemical, thermal, mechanical, and electrical properties, making it suitable for various applications. However, ceramic materials generally exhibit inherent brittleness, limiting their potential load-bearing applications. There is a growing need to develop advanced ceramic composites and adopt innovative manufacturing technologies to address this limitation. Additive Manufacturing (AM) offers numerous advantages over other manufacturing technologies to overcome the limitations of fabricating high-performance ceramic functional components. Metals typically have higher flexibility compared to ceramics. As one type of widely used metal, nickel is known for its high melting temperature, outstanding corrosion resistance, and low coefficient of thermal expansion, offering a promising avenue to improve the fracture toughness of ceramic composites by distributing stresses more evenly, bridging cracks, and enhancing crack propagation resistance. This research focused on the development of nickel reinforced SiC (Ni/SiC) ceramic composites using a Direct Ink Writing (DIW) 3D printing technique. The results demonstrated that the 3D-printed Ni/SiC composite components exhibited reduced porosity and enhanced mechanical properties. These findings highlight the potential for the development and fabrication of high-performance Ni/SiC ceramic composites for various applications.