Manufacturing & Characterization of Ceramic-Polymer Hybrid Composite with Tunable Stiffness

Naturally occurring architectured structures utilize brick-and-mortar organization to achieve a hard, yet ductile material. Resin containing ceramic microparticles is to be employed to print a structure utilizing additive manufacturing. The part is then cured, vacuum baked, and sintered removing the binding polymer. A softer, more ductile, epoxy polymer is to be vacuum infiltrated into the porous ceramic structure, providing a material with a tunable toughness. This will theoretically mimic the behavior of the naturally occurring material. The samples produced will be characterized in order to describe the physical and chemical properties generated by the process