03/27/2026
By Danielle Fretwell

The Francis College of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, invites you to attend a Master's Thesis defense by Joseph Duval on: "Large Scale Additive Manufacturing of Ceramics."

Candidate Name: Joseph Duval
Degree: Master’s
Defense Date: Thursday, April 9, 2026
Time: 2:30-4:30 p.m.
Location: Southwick 240

Committee:

  • Advisor: Christopher Hansen, Chair, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Amy Peterson, Professor, Plastics Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Scott Stapleton, Professor, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Abstract: 

Additive manufacturing of ceramics enables the fabrication of complex ceramic structures that were previously unattainable with traditional ceramic manufacturing methods. Of the various additive manufacturing processes, Direct Ink Writing (DIW) was chosen for this project due to its multi-material capabilities. To meet the rheological requirement for DIW, the ceramic particulates must be suspended in a highly filled slurry of binding material. Once the ceramic parts are printed, the binder must be removed before entering the sintering process. Binder removal, otherwise known and debinding, is an extremely time consuming and often dimension-limiting process. There are several ways to remove binder from a ceramic part; the most common method is thermal debinding, where the binding material is thermally degraded. This works looks to decrease the required thermal debinding time for large scale (>9mm) 3d printed ceramic parts.