---
title: "DUT team develops microwave-laser hybrid method for 3D printed ceramics"
url: https://www.voxelmatters.com/dut-team-develops-microwave-laser-hybrid-method-for-3d-printed-ceramics/
date: 2026-03-17
modified: 2026-03-17
lang: en
author: "Joseph Caron-Dawe"
description: "Researchers at Dalian University of Technology have developed a hybrid additive manufacturing technique that integrates a microwave field with laser-based 3D printing to address a persistent defect problem in ceramic..."
categories:
  - "AM Research"
  - "Ceramic Additive Manufacturing"
  - "Ceramics"
tags:
  - "future"
image: https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/DUT-hybrid-3D-print-method-ceramics_01-640x400.jpg
word_count: 366
---

# DUT team develops microwave-laser hybrid method for 3D printed ceramics

Researchers at Dalian University of Technology have developed a [hybrid additive manufacturing technique](https://www.voxelmatters.com/ift-vienna-helps-shape-the-future-of-hybrid-manufacturing-with-ad-proc-add-ii-project/) that integrates a microwave field with laser-based 3D printing to address a persistent defect problem in ceramic components that are used in extreme industrial environments.

[Conventional laser 3D printing of ceramics generates a shallow molten pool that solidifies almost instantaneously](https://www.voxelmatters.com/ntu-researchers-develop-high-precision-ceramic-3d-printing-solution/), trapping microscopic gas bubbles within the material matrix.

Those bubbles then create pores that act as initiation points for cracking. Crystal structures formed under laser-only conditions also tend to align in uniform planar bands, a pattern that compounds brittleness under mechanical stress.

Professor Fangyong Niu led the team that exposed the entire printing zone to a 2.45 GHz microwave field simultaneously with laser irradiation.

Because microwaves penetrate the material volumetrically rather than heating only the surface, the liquid phase of the melt pool extended from an average of 0.85 seconds under conventional laser printing to 1.86 seconds in the hybrid system. 

[![DUT team develops microwave-laser hybrid method for 3D printed ceramics](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/DUT-hybrid-3D-print-method-ceramics_02-640x400.jpg)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/DUT-hybrid-3D-print-method-ceramics_02.jpg)

The longer fluidity window allowed entrapped gas bubbles to escape before solidification, reducing total void space by 85.5% and bringing porosity down to 0.11%. Remaining pores also shrank in average diameter to approximately 38 micrometers.

The microwave field also produced additional structural changes at the microscopic level. 

Trapped gases within residual pores became energized as free electrons were accelerated by the microwave field, generating internal plasma through avalanche ionization that further eliminated gas bubbles. 

The [yttria-stabilized zirconia (ZrO₂)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/3dceram-sinto-targets-industrial-scale-soec-parts-with-large-format-ceramic-sla/) component of the ceramic acted as a localized microwave absorber, creating hotspot regions that prompted crystal growth in randomized rather than linear orientations. That randomized microstructure disrupted crack propagation pathways and improved structural homogeneity.

The combination of reduced porosity and reoriented crystal growth increased bending strength by 22.2%, with the material reaching a maximum load-bearing capacity of 373.8 megapascals before failure. 

The researchers identified jet engine components, combustor liners, and power plant turbines as target applications. The current demonstration was limited to small-scale test bars produced under laboratory conditions, with the team noting that scaling the technique will require uniform microwave field application over larger volumes and real-time synchronization of the two energy sources.

The work, led by Professor Niu, was published in the International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing.