Development and application of new material systems for three dimensional printing (3DP)

Three Dimensional Printing (3DP) is a method for direct digital manufacturing that provides capabilities for creating a wide range of part geometries (including internal features) in a broad variety of materials including just about anything that is available as a spreadable powder. Taking advantage of the full variety of materials requires development of specific implementations of 3DP. The development of a new material system for 3DP can be difficult without considerable experience in the field since the flexibility of the 3DP process implies both a broad fabrication range and a large number of material and processing parameters. This dissertation will present development of three applications of 3DP with a culminating chapter describing a development process for any new material system for 3DP. The three applications include advanced ceramic materials and processes for dental coping production, process development for the training of nitinol shape memory alloy wire using 3DP fixtures, and 3DP fabricated microsphere networks with potential tissue engineering applications. This dissertation concludes with the presentation of a detailed explanation of the steps involved in developing specific implementations of 3DP along with design tools and insight about each of the steps in the development process. The presented material system development process provides a unified understanding of the various 3DP process steps and the major design decisions to help the user take advantage of the considerable material flexibility of 3DP and make the step from 3DP user to 3DP developer.