What about the Materials Used in 3D Printing of Ceramics.

This is actually a prelude to a much longer article explaining the equipment and methodology behind it.

But, for now, let's start with an image that isn't all that exciting unless you, like me, are extremely interested in the materials you are using when embarking on a new 3D printing path.

Tethon3D Porcelain Ceramic Powder

Be sure to click on the above image to see the full size.

What you are seeing is Tethon3D's Tethonite porcelain ceramic powder as viewed through a microscope at 100X.  It's difficult to understand what we are seeing unless we have some context.

The sample you see was strained using a Talismon #120 mesh.  This is a medium mesh available from Talisman.  I had ordered a #200 but they sent me this in error.  Even so it is somewhat usefull.

Talisman #120 Mesh

To further understand the significance of this, a chart that relates mesh size to microns and inches is helpful.

Mesh to Microns

Only a small portion of the ceramic powder recipe made it through the mesh.  But, at least some did. 

As you can see, for something to pass through a #120 mesh it has to be less than about 125 microns or .125mm.  In the next article I plan to actually plan to attempt measure the smaller particles in this image.  But, if the clumps we see are less than 125 microns, then the individual particles are a whole lot smaller.

However, it may not be as easy as that.  It is my current understanding that ceramic particles in powder form are designed so that the particles have an electrical attraction to each other whereas ceramic particles in liquid "slip" form are meant to repeal each other.  It this is the case, then it may be that the individual particles made it through the mesh and bonded upon landing on the slide.

So, putting aside the question of particle size until we actually measure it, we can already see that the particles appear to be spherical.  While I'm no expert on the subject, this is exactly the kind of information I want to gather as we test various ceramic materials in our powder/binder printer so that we can make comparisons with properties of materials in relation to outcomes.

I plan to buy the entire range of these Talisman meshes for future tests and use them to perform a whole series of evaluations and data collection.

Equipment used

The microscope being used resulting in the image above is a C & A Scientific MRP-5000T.  

C&A Scientific MRP-5000T

While it is at the top end of the C&A line it's certainly not a Leica or Olympus.  But, it is a great value in terms of cost vs. performance.  Mounted on the MRP-5000T is a Hayear 12mp digital microscope camera.  

Hayear 12mp Digital Microscope Camera

After MANY attempts, for well over the past decade, of buying digital scope cameras costing MORE than the Hayear, I have FINALLY found a camera with which I am exceedingly pleased.  It is able to capture a full 12mpx image over a USB connection.  And, the free software that comes with it is infinitely better than any I've used in the past.  In fact, I am going to use that software to measure the particles for my next article.  Note that you will need a fairly inexpensive adapter for your particular microscope's eyepiece tube.  I was able to use this simple $7.49 23mm adapter.

23mm "C" Mount Eyepiece Tube Adapter

I actually bought the camera in a bundle with a stand and lens that allows me to also use it as its own self-contained microscope.  

Hayear 12mp Camera\Lens\Stand Bundle

This makes it doubly useful!  More on that in the next article.

Helicon Focus

By the very nature of the beast, ALL microscopes have limited depth of field.  One of the great features of the free Hayear software is that it can take a series of images at user defined intervals.  I used this to capture a series of images as I changed the fine focus of the microscope and used a wonderful program called Helicon Focus to combine the images into a single image having all of the target areas in proper focus.  

I have used Helicon Focus for more probably more than 20 years with all sorts of macro and product photography.  It is a great go-to partner for the Hayear 12mp because we start with such a great image.

To illustrate this point, here is a single image from that series followed immediately by the output from Helicon Focus.  

Single 12mp Image at 100X on an MRP-5000T

Helicon Focus Result

While even the single image is very useful, it's immediately clear that Helicon Focus adds to the usefulness enormously.

As we move forward with our exploration into all things ceramic 3d printing, we expect this combo of hardware and software to help play a pivotal role in expanding our understanding.  I'm certainly looking forward to it.  :)