Silicon nitride-bonded silicon carbide kiln furniture for aerospace components

Kiln furniture is crucial to firing ceramic parts to securely hold parts during firing and prevent deformation. It is especially useful for parts with overhanging segments that require support during firing to retain the shape and integrity of the original green body. In recent years, there has been a growing demand for kiln furniture usable in the production of advanced ceramics.

Key challenges at this stage include the need for a bespoke design in low numbers, making it difficult to procure them through the established supply chain. Additive manufacturing, and in particular robocasting, could enable fast and efficient manufacture of kiln furniture prototypes.

This white paper explores the feasibility of modernising the production of kiln furniture through the use of robocasting as a cost-effective additive manufacturing technology.

There are also additional opportunities to fully exploit its design potential, for example using lattice infill, produce shell structures, and incorporate internal features to reduce the thermal mass of kiln furniture and enhance air flow around parts during sintering.

The work was undertaken at The AMRICC Centre on behalf of MICG partner Lucideon, and was supported and partly funded by UK Research and Innovation through the Strength in Places Fund Programme.

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