MONOLITHIC CERAMIC TRUSS STRUCTURE

摘要

An open truss structure includes a plurality of ceramic truss members integrally cast in the form of a three-dimensional, lightweight, monolithic truss. The truss structure may be an integral part of a ceramic mirror substrate that supports a precision mirror surface. A dissolvable core used to form the truss with a slip casting method can be made by forming a plurality of internal passages in a suitably-shaped piece of a nonporous material. The nonporous material becomes the dissolvable core and the internal passages form the integral truss members when filled with a liquid-containing ceramic slip. The nonporous material used to make the dissolvable core is capable of dissolving at a temperature below the freezing point of the liquid in the ceramic slip.