Research progress and challenges in manufacturing fiber reinforced ceramic matrix composites using direct ink writing technology

Advanced ceramics and composites have been widely used in aerospace applications because of their excellent performance, at present, the use of three-dimensional (3D) printing technology to achieve rapid, efficient, and low-cost preparation of such materials has become a central issue. Compared with the traditional process, the 3D printing of ceramic materials is generally faced with the problem of their inherent brittleness and low damage tolerance. Therefore, the incorporation of fiber reinforcements in printed parts to overcome the challenges of poor fracture toughness of advanced ceramics has become a hot topics and frontier. Here, we systematically summarize recently developed direct ink writing (DIW) technologies for printing fiber reinforced ceramic matrix composites (FRCMC), focus on the relationship between the processing, structure, and properties of DIW-FRCMCs, comprehensively analyze the ceramic ink design process, the fiber introduction method, the densification technologies and the important properties of the printed parts. In the last, the important issues were pointed out and future research directions were prospected.