| Abstract | Tough and impact-resistant ceramic systems ofer a wide range of remarkable opportunities beyond those ofered by the conventional brittle ceramics. However, despite their promise, the availability of traditional manufacturing technique for fabricating such advanced ceramic structures in a highly controllable and scalable manner poses a signifcant manufacturing bottleneck. In this study, a precise and programmable laser manufacturing system was used to manufacture topologically interlocking ceramics. This manufacturing strategy ofers feasible mechanisms for a precise material architecture and quantitative process control, particularly when scalability is considered. An optimized material removal method that approaches near-net shaping was employed to fabricate topologically interlocking ceramic systems (load-carrying assemblies of building blocks interacting by contact and friction) with diferent architectures (i.e., interlocking angles and building block sizes) subjected to low-velocity impact conditions. These impacts were evaluated using 3D digital image correlation. The optimal interlocked ceramics exhibited a higher deformation (up to 310%) than the other interlocked ones advantageous for fexible protections. Their performance was tuned by controlling the interlocking angle and block size, adjusting the frictional sliding, and minimizing damage to the building blocks. In addition, the developed subtractive manufacturing technique leads to the fabrication of tough, impact-resistant, damage-tolerant ceramic systems with excellent versatility and scalability. |
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