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Silicon nitride (Si3N4) is a highly versatile engineering ceramic. It is able to withstand extreme thermal, mechanical and wear situations.
Physical properties include low density, high bending strength, elastic modulus and fracture toughness. It is also extremely chemically resistant to most acids and bases, corrosive gases and liquid metals.
The material is also resistant to thermal shock, a phenomenon where materials change in size or volume due to small changes in temperature. The strong atomic bonds of this ceramic make it highly resistant to thermal expansion, which is often the cause of distortion in materials.
Typical applications of silicon nitride include measuring tips for atomic force microscopes, insulating and passivating components in semiconductor technology, and masking in local silicon oxidation (LOCOS) processes. Moreover, silicon nitride is an excellent choice for high temperature and wear resistance in ball bearings.
A new method for producing silicon nitride-based ceramics via LCM was developed. The lithography-based technique is based on a commercially available photocurable ceramic suspension.
The results showed that the resulting ceramic parts were comparable to conventionally manufactured silicon nitride-based ceramics, such as biaxial strength and hardness values (HV10 1500). Additionally, the lateral over-polymerization of the polymerized layer was significantly reduced.
This result suggests that the LCM method is a feasible alternative to traditional SLA-based ceramic manufacturing. It can be used for the manufacturing of complex and highly detailed silicon nitride-based parts, which are ideally suited to medical applications such as hip resurfacing prostheses.