Lost Mold Rapid Infiltration Forming of Mesoscale Ceramics: Part 1, Fabrication.

Free-standing mesoscale (340 mum x 30 mum x 20 mum) bend bars with an aspect ratio over 15:1 and an edge resolution as fine as a single grain diameter ( approximately 400 nm) have been fabricated in large numbers on refractory ceramic substrates by combining a novel powder processing approach with photoresist molds and an innovative lost-mold thermal process. The colloid and interfacial chemistry of the nanoscale zirconia particulates has been modeled and used to prepare highly concentrated suspensions. Engineering solutions to challenges in mold fabrication and casting have yielded free-standing, crack-free parts.

Lost Mold-Rapid Infiltration Forming of Mesoscale Ceramics: Part 2, Geometry and Strength Improvements.

Iterative process improvements have been used to eliminate strength-limiting geometric flaws in mesoscale bend bars composed of yttria-tetragonal zirconia polycrystals (Y-TZP). These improvements led to large quantities of high bend strength material. The metrology of Y-TZP mesoscale bend bars produced using a novel lost mold-rapid infiltration-forming process (LM-RIF) is characterized over several process improvements.