Investigations on the development and characterization of liquid silicone rubber/TiO 2 composite ink for additive manufacturing via direct ink writing technique

Abstract Additive manufacturing (AM) has emerged as a promising candidate for printing complex-shaped geometries. The particularly direct ink writing (DIW) technique is useful for processing inks and provides capabilities for high-resolution printing. However, the limited availability of processable inks poses a challenge for end-use applications. The present study deals with the development of composite ink for the DIW process utilizing liquid silicone rubber (LSR) and Titanium Dioxide (TiO 2 ). A design experiment was utilized for ink formulation, and investigations were carried out to study the effect of composition on the viscosity of ink. Further, the optimized ink was characterized and utilized for part fabrication using the DIW process. The DIW process parameters were tuned, and parts were fabricated to demonstrate the feasibility of the developed composite ink. The study offers suggestions regarding the fabrication of silicone components utilizing the DIW process.