Material Extrusion-Debinding-Sintering as an Emerging Additive Manufacturing Process Chain for Metal/Ceramic Parts Construction

Material Extrusion of metal/ceramic-polymer filaments for the construction of, respectively, metal or ceramic parts, has raised great interest among the research community during the last five years. It usually comprises three main phases: printing, debinding and sintering. With respect to other metal/ceramic Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies, the benefits are several: simplicity, enhanced safety during use, material and costs saving. The present essay aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the main advances and criticalities influencing the spreading and potential applications of this promising AM research field. More in detail, the following issues are addressed: (i) description of the specific technologies comprised within the metal/ceramic Material Extrusion process chain, (ii) processed materials, (iii) material properties (iv) shrinkage evaluation, (v) post-processing treatments, and (vi) geometric limitations.