Three dimensional printing of carbon/carbon composites by selective laser sintering

A novel three dimensional (3D) printing method is developed to fabricate complex carbon/carbon (C/C) composite components. The C/C composites with the high mechanical performance are achieved by combining the selective laser sintering and the chemical vapor infiltration-thermal treatment process. The C/C composites with a maximum density of 1.5 g/cm(3) and bending strength of 100 MPa are obtained. Complex C/C composite parts with the minimum thickness of 0.5 mm are accurately fabricated with the computer-aided design technique. This developed 3D printing method can be well applied to the production of complex C/C composite parts with high precision and good mechanical performance. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.