Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Slot-Die Coating Regimes of Alumina Slurries on Glass and Dried Alumina Layer for Ceramic Additive Manufacturing

Abstract

Slurry-based additive manufacturing (AM) enables the fabrication of dense and complex ceramic components through the layer-by-layer deposition of high-solid-content slurries. However, the reliable formation of uniform, defect-free slurry layers remains a bottleneck for process stability and final part quality. In this study, the slot-die coating window for alumina slurry (50 wt%, viscosity = 34 Pa·s) was systematically investigated using volume-of-fluid simulations and experiments, with coating speed (0.7–2.8 mm/s), flow rate (0.6–0.8 mL/min), and coating gap (200–400 μm) as key variables. The coating process exhibited three distinct regimes, namely overflow, stable, and unstable, depending on process conditions. For a coating gap of 200 μm on a glass substrate, stable bead formation was observed over the widest coating speed range without overflow or air entrainment. At higher speeds, dynamic wetting failure induced air entrainment and bead breakage, while lower speeds led to overflow defects. When coating on a dried alumina layer (contact angle, CA = 137 (Formula presented.)), the stable window narrowed significantly compared to the glass substrate (CA = 66.7 (Formula presented.), highlighting the substantial influence of substrate wettability on coating stability and defect formation. The results derived in this work offer practical guidance for optimizing process parameters to achieve uniform, defect-free films in multilayer ceramic AM.