3D printing is regarded as a key technology in “made in China 2025” and has been applied in high strength steel, high temperature alloys, plastic rubber etc. But 3D printing still has not been used in petroleum industry because of many technical challenges. For example, artificial core manufacturing faces the obstacles of high production cost and low sample repeatability. Here a potential technological solutions for artificial core manufacturing were discussed. The characteristics of several rock materials and shale powders were analyzed, and a core material candidate for 3D printing was selected out. The influence of components ratios of the materials on rock permeability, porosity and setting time was studied by the response surface method. The central composite design (CCD) was used to optimize the model and a material with best component ratio was gained. The simulation results fit well with the experiment.