Description
Abstract: Stereolithographic additive manufacturing using high power ultraviolet laser was invented to fabricate ceramics components with micro scale geometrical structures. An acrylic resin paste with β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) particles of 500 nm in diameters were spread with 50 μm in layer thickness on a glass substrate of 100×100 mm by using a mechanical knife edge. By scanning a spread paste surface with an ultraviolet laser beam, two-dimensional (2D) solid patterns were dewaxed and sintered. Subsequently, three dimensional (3D) structures with a relative density of 97% were created via layer lamination and joining. Through computer aided design, manufacture and evaluation (CAD/CAM/CAE), β-TCP scaffolds with four-coordinate lattices were modeled. The ceramic microstructures without cracks or pores were observed by using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The result shows that the ultraviolet laser stereolithography is a novel technology to fabricate bio-scaffolds.
Authors: Soshu Kirihara, Koki Nonaka, Shoichiro Kisanuki, Hirotoshi Nozaki, and Keito Sakaguchi
Keywords: Additive Manufacturing, Ultraviolet Laser Lithography, Biological Scaffold