Coupling direct powder deposition with spark plasma sintering: a new approach towards rapid prototyping

In this paper, we propose a modified material jetting technology based on a piezoelectric-driven powder deposition, hence direct powder deposition (DPD), combined with pressure-assisted rapid sintering. This is a new approach toward the rapid production of metal and ceramic materials with complex geometries. The combined deposition of two loose powders within the same container, layer by layer, allows realizing complex shapes without the use of any binder or dispersing medium. The resulting green sample is then sintered by field assisted sintering (FAST) or spark plasma sintering (SPS) operating in a pseudo-isostatic mode. This combination of DPD and FAST/SPS allows great versatility, as it can be extended to a wide range of materials and composites without any significant modification of the setup. Moreover, the use of FAST/SPS densification allows the realization of fully sintered samples in less than one hour.