The open-cell honeycomb structure exists in nature in different forms. Nowadays, polymer, metal and ceramic porous materials have played a role in industrial production. These structures have excellent performance at high temperatures, stability in harsh environments (acidic, alkaline or oxidizing) and excellent thermomechanical properties (thermal shock resistance). Due to their porous nature, they have a fluid surface with higher surface area and permeability, so they are suitable for applications in catalysis, solar energy collection, heat storage, heat exchange, radiation burners and other fields.
The traditional manufacturing methods of ceramic honeycomb structure include: uneven pore molding, direct foaming and replication of polymer foam. Additive manufacturing-3D printing technology has become a new manufacturing process for ceramic foam materials. By combining CAD, simulation and additive manufacturing, it can meet the needs of end users in different industrial fields.
Automotive catalytic converters with engineered structures are used to replace foam or standard cellular solutions because the latter two cannot be designed according to customer requirements.
The catalytic converter carrier designed by the structured lattice design method is an optimized design according to the final requirements. The part in the picture is made of alumina material and coated with g-Al2 O3-Pt suspension. The part is a high surface area porous ceramic, which requires 3D printing technology to achieve fine details. The research team used light curing based The SLA technology of the process is sintered by heat treatment after printing.
The research team has conducted tests at a constant flow rate and increased temperature to obtain a light-off characteristic curve. The temperature is increased from 50 ° C to 600 ° C, and the heating gradient is 10 ° C min-1. Or at a constant temperature but increasing as the flow rate increases to understand the effect of flow rate on the reaction rate.