Investigation of UV-cured urethane acrylate resin based ceramic composite materials performance properties

In this thesis, UV-curable urethane acrylate-based ceramic composite resins were developed for applications in 3D printing and UV-curable coating technologies. Within this scope, the photopolymerization behavior of binder systems containing different acrylate monomer-oligomer compositions was evaluated, and the curing depth was optimized as the primary performance parameter. Silica and feldspar minerals were employed as hybrid ceramic fillers, and the total ceramic content was investigated in the range of 40-60 wt%. The hybrid composition of 80 wt% SiO₂ and 20 wt% feldspar was found to provide improved dispersion, lower viscosity, and higher processing stability compared to silica-only systems, due to reduced agglomeration tendency. The Box-Behnken experimental design and ANOVA analysis conducted using Design-Expert software revealed that ceramic content was the most influential parameter affecting curing depth. The highest photocuring efficiency was achieved for the formulation containing 40 wt% ceramic, 6 wt% photoinitiator, and 3 wt% dispersant, which was identified as the optimum resin composition. Although increasing the filler content enhanced mechanical strength, it also limited curing efficiency due to increased optical scattering and viscosity. FTIR, DSC, TGA, and SEM analyses confirmed the chemical integrity, thermal stability, and microstructural homogeneity of the hybrid composites. Overall, the urethane acrylate resin system containing 80 wt% SiO₂-20 wt% feldspar and 40 wt% total filler demonstrated high curing depth and balanced mechanical and rheological performance, indicating its suitability as a promising composite material for advanced digital manufacturing applications.