Architectured Ceramics: Interlocking Design, Programmable Laser Manufacturing and Testing

Abstract

Tough and impact-resistant ceramic systems offer a wide range of remarkable opportunities beyond those offered by conventional brittle ceramics. However, despite their promise, the availability of traditional manufacturing techniques to fabricate such advanced ceramic structures in a highly controllable and scalable manner poses a significant manufacturing bottleneck. In this study, a precise and programmable laser manufacturing system was used to manufacture architectured ceramics inspired by biological materials such as bone, nacre and tooth enamel. This manufacturing strategy offers feasible mechanisms for precise material architecture and quantitative process control, particularly when scalability is considered. An optimized material removal method that approaches near-net shaping was employed to fabricate topologically interlocking ceramic systems (load-carrying assemblies of building blocks interacting by contact and friction) with different architectures (i.e., interlocking angle and building block size) subjected to low-velocity impact conditions. These impacts were evaluated using 3D digital image correlation (DIC). The optimal architectured ceramics exhibited a higher deformation (up to 310%) than the others. Their performance was tuned by controlling the interlocking angle and block size, adjusting the frictional sliding, and minimizing damage to the building blocks. The developed subtractive manufacturing technique leads to the fabrication of tough, impact-resistant, damagetolerant ceramic systems with excellent versatility and potential scalability.