Fabrication by stereolithography of fiber-reinforced fused silica composites with reduced crack and improved mechanical properties

Chopped quartz fiber-reinforced fused silica (SiO 2 f /SiO 2 ) composites were fabricated by stereolithography . The fiber orientation characteristics and crack distributions after the debinding process of the green bodies were investigated. The results showed that the distribution of fibers presented orientation characteristics; additionally, the number of cracks after debinding decreased as the fiber content increased and the cracks oriented along the fiber orientation. The mechanical properties of SiO 2 f /SiO 2 ceramics with different fiber contents were also considered. As a result, a compressive strength of 51.2 MPa and flexural strength of 24.3 MPa were achieved for the SiO 2 f /SiO 2 ceramic with 4 wt% fiber, and a sintered cambered structure with a size over 150 mm × 150 mm × 3 mm was fabricated successfully without cracking and deformation for the SiO 2 f /SiO 2 composites with a fiber content of 4 wt% and 6 wt%.