CERAMICS

Common classes of material are metal, polymers and ceramics. Metals can be defined by their
electronic structure. Metals have one or two valence electrons. This electronic structure gives rise
to their unique properties including high strengths and ductilities and high electrical and thermal
conductivities. Polymers are formed from long chains of organic molecules.
What are ceramics?
Ceramic is a bold term to describe. Ceramics are usually associated with “mixed” bonding—a
combination of covalent, ionic, and some-times metallic. They consist of arrays of
interconnected atoms; there are no discrete molecules. This characteristic distinguishes
ceramics from molecular solids such as iodine crystals (composed of discrete molecules) and
paraffin wax (composed of long-chain alkane molecules). It also excludes ice, which is composed
of discrete H2O molecules and often behaves just like many ceramics. The majority of ceramics
are compounds of metals and non-metals. Most frequently they are oxides, nitrides, and
carbides. However, we also classify diamond and graphite as ceramics.

GENERAL PROPERTIES
Brittleness. - The reason that the majority of ceramics are brittle is the mixed ionic–covalent
bonding that holds the constituent atoms together. However, at high temperature glass no longer
behaves in a brittle manner; it behaves as a viscous liquid. That is why it is easy to form glass into
intricate shapes. So what we can say is that most ceramics are brittle at room temperature but not
necessarily at elevated temperatures.
Poor electrical and thermal conduction: The valence electrons are tied up in bonds, and are not
free as they are in metals. In metals it is the free electrons that determines many of their electrical
and thermal properties.However, diamond, which we classified as a ceramic, has the highest
thermal conductivity of any known material. The conduction mechanism is due to phonons, not
electrons, ReO3(Rhenium trioxide), has an electrical conductivity at room temperature similar to
that of Cu; These are examples that contradict the conventional wisdom when it comes to ceramics.
Compressive strength. Ceramics are stronger in compression than in tension, whereas metals
have comparable tensile and compressive strengths. This difference is important when we use
ceramic components for load-bearing applications. It is necessary to consider the stress
distributions in the ceramic to ensure that they are compressive. An important example is in the
design of concrete bridge. Ceramics generally have low toughness, although combining them in
composites can dramatically improve this property.
Chemical insensitivity. A large number of ceramics are stable in both harsh chemical and thermal
environments. Pyrex glass is used widely in chemistry laboratories specifically because it is
resistant to many corrosive chemicals, stable at high temperatures (it does not soften until 1100
K), and is resistant to thermal shock because of its low coefficient of thermal expansion. It is also
widely used in bakeware.
Transparent. Many ceramics are transparent . Examples include sapphire watch precious stones,
and optical fibers.

TYPES OF CERAMICS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS

The most common ceramic materials used for armor applications are alumina, boron carbide,
silicon carbide, and titanium diboride.
Ceramics are widely used worldwide.They are commonly classified as traditional and advanced
ceramics. Traditional ceramics include high-volume items such bricks and tiles, toilet bowls
(whitewares), and pottery. Traditional ceramics are usually based on clay and silica.

Advanced ceramics include newer materials such as laser host materials, piezoelectric ceramics,
ceramics for dynamic random access memories (DRAMs), etc., often produced in small quantities
with higher prices. Advanced ceramics are also referred to as “special,” “technical,” or
“engineering” ceramics. They exhibit superior mechanical properties, corrosion/oxidation
resistance, or electrical, optical, and/or magnetic properties.
Many shaping methods are used for ceramic products and these can be grouped into three basic
categories, which are not necessarily independent.
1. Powder compaction: dry pressing, hot pressing, cold isostatic pressing, etc.
2. Casting: using a mold with the ceramic as, or containing, a liquid or slurry
3. Plastic forming: extrusion, injection molding, etc.—using pressure to shape the green ceramic

Powder compaction is simply the pressing of a free-flowing powder. The powder may be dry
pressed (i.e.,without the addition of a binder) or pressed with the addition of a small amount of a
suitable binder. The pressure is applied either uniaxially or isostatically. The choice of pressing
method depends on the shape of the final product. We make simple shapes by applying the pressure
uniaxially; more complex shapes require isostatic pressing.
Casting of ceramics is carried out at room temperature and generally requires the ceramic powder
particles to be suspended in a liquid to form a slurry; note this processis quite unlike the casting
of metals. The slurry is then poured into a porous mold that removes the liquid (it diffuses out
through the mold) and leaves a particulate compact in the mold. This process is known as slip
casting.
The process has been used to form many traditional ceramic products (e.g., sanitary ware) and
more recently has been used in forming advanced ceramic products (e.g., rotor blades for gas
turbines). The other main casting process for ceramics is tape casting, which, is used to make thick
films or sheets.
Plastic forming consists of mixing the ceramic powder with a large volume fraction of a liquid to
produce a mass that is deformable (plastic) under pressure. Such processes were developed and
used originally for clay and have since been adapted to polymeric materials. For traditional clay-
based ceramics the liquid is mainly water. For ceramic systems that are not based on clay, an
organic may be used in place of, or in addition to, water. The binders are often complex and contain
multiple components to achieve the required viscosity and burn-out characteristics.
Description of important terms used in this chapter
Binder is a component that is added to hold the powder together while we shape the body.
Slurry is a suspension of ceramic particles in a liquid.
Plasticizer is the component of a binder that keeps it soft or pliable; it improves the rheological
(rate and nature of deformation that occurs when a material is pressed).
Green is a ceramic before it is fired. Brown, white, or gray potter’s clays are well known green
ceramics. Some of the shaping methods we will produce a ceramic compact that is strong enough
to be handled and machined; however, it is not fully dense and the bonds between the grains are
not strong. This is called the “green” state and represents a transition state between the loose
powder and the high-density sintered product.
Slip is the liquid-like coating used to form the glaze when fired.
Sintering is a heat treatment process in which a large quantity of loose aggregate material is
subjected to a sufficiently high temperature and pressure to cause the loose material to become a
compact solid piece.
PRESSING:
Dry pressing is ideally suited to the formation of simple solid shapes and consists of three basic
steps: filling the die, compacting the contents, and ejecting the pressed solid
Figure 23.1 shows a schematic diagram of the double-action dry-pressing process. In a double-
action press both the top and bottom punches are movable. When the bottom punch is in the low
position a cavity is formed in the die and this cavity is filled with free flowing powder.
In dry pressing the powder mixture will contain between 0 and 5 wt% of a binder. The pressures
used in dry pressing may be as high as 300 MPa, depending upon material and press type, to
maximize the density of the compact.
HOT PRESSING:
Pressing can also be performed at high temperatures; this process is known as hot pressing. The
die assembly used for hot pressing is very similar to that described above for dry pressing. The
main difference is that in hot pressing the die assembly is contained within a high-temperature
furnace as shown in Figure 23.2. During hot pressing the ceramic powders may sinter together to
form a high-density component.
 Powder is uniaxially pressed between two graphite punches in a graphite die and heated
in a defined atmosphere (vacuum or inert gases)
 Combines powder compaction and sintering into single step graphite heating elements in
HP surround the pressing tool, transferring heat by radiation/convection
 Suitable for materials with poor sintering behaviour- ceramics
Most metals are of little use as die materials above 1000°C because they become ductile, and the
die bulges. Special alloys, mostly based on Mo, can be used up to 1000°C at pressures of about 80
MPa. Ceramics such as Al2O3, SiC(Silicon Carbide), and Si3N4(silicon nitride) can be used up to about
1400°C at similar pressures. Graphite is the most widely used die material and can be used at
temperatures up to 2200°C and pressures between 10 and 30 MPa. The difficulty is that a graphite
die will tend to produce a very reducing environment.
However, graphite does have many properties that make it suitable for a die.
 It is easy to machine (but the dust is toxic if inhaled—like coal dust).
 It is inexpensive.
 Its strength increases with increasing temperature.
 It has good creep resistance.
 It has excellent thermal conductivity.
 It has a relatively low coefficient of thermal expansion.
Hot pressing, like dry pressing, is limited to simple solid shapes, such as flat plates, blocks, and
cylinders.
COLD ISOSTATIC PRESSING:
There are many variations on using the cold isostatic press (CIP); . Figure 23.3 illustrates the so-
called wet-bag CIP process. Powder is weighed into a rubber bag and a metal mandrel is inserted
that makes a seal with the mouth of the rubber bag. The sealed bag is placed inside a high-pressure
chamber that is filled with a fluid (normally a soluble oil/water mixture) and is hydrostatically
pressed. The pressures used can vary from about 20 MPa up to 1 GPa depending upon the press
and the application. For production units the pressure is usually ≤400 MPa. Once pressing is
complete, the pressure is released slowly, the mold is removed from the pressure chamber, and the
pressed component is removed from the mold.

HOT ISOSTATIC PRESSING

The hot isostatic press (HIP) uses the simultaneous application of heat and pressure. We refer to
this process as HIPing and the product as being HIPed . A furnace is constructed within a high-
pressure vessel and the objects to be pressed are placed inside. Figure 23.6 shows a typical HIP
arrangement. Temperatures can be up to 2000°C and pressures are typically in the range of 30–
100 MPa.
SLIP CASTING;
The slip is poured into a mold (usually plaster of Paris: 2CaSO 4 ·H2 O) that has been made by
casting round a model of the required shape. The fineness of the powder (in the slip) and the
consequent high surface area ensure that electrostatic forces dominate gravity so that settling does
not occur. The electrochemistry of the slip is quite complex: Na silicate (or soda ash) is added to
the slip to deflocculate the particles (Deflocculation is the process of making a clay slurry that
would otherwise be very thick and gooey into a thin pourable consistency). The water passes,
via capillary action, into the porous plaster leaving a layer of the solid on the wall of the mold.
(We consider this model in Section 25.7.) Once a sufficient thickness has been cast, the surplus
slip is poured out and the mold and cast are allowed to dry. These steps are shown in Figure 23.9.
Slip casting is a low cost way to produce complex shapes and in the traditional pottery industry it
is the accepted method for the production of teapots, jugs, and figurines, although handmade items
will likely be hand-thrown. Large articles, such as wash-hand basins and other whitewares, are
also mass produced by slip casting.
EXTRUSION:
Extrusion involves forcing a deformable mass through a die orifice (like toothpaste from a tube).
The process is widely used to produce ceramic components having a uniform cross section and a
large length-to-diameter ratio such as ceramic tubes and rods as illustrated in Figure 23.10.
Extrusion is also used to produce the alumina shells for sodium vapor lamps and the honeycomb-
shaped catalyst supports for automotive emission-control devices.

Clay with a suitable rheology for the extrusion process (essentially a paste) can be made by
controlling the amount of water. Clay-free starting materials, such as Al2O3, are mixed with a
viscous liquid such as polyvinyl alcohol or methylcellulose and water to produce a plastically
deformable mass.
INJECTION MOLDING:
Injection molding can be applied to shaping and forming ceramic components if the ceramic
powder is added to a thermoplastic polymer. When forming ceramics by injection molding, the
polymer is usually referred to as the binder (but we could instead have called the material a
ceramic-loaded polymer). The ceramic powder is added to the binder and is usually mixed with
several other organic materials to provide a mass that has the desired rheological properties.
RAPID PROTOTYPING:
Rapid prototyping (RP) or solid freeform fabrication (SFF) is a relatively recent approach to
forming ceramic components. There are various forms of RP techniques, but they are based on a
common principle: a computer directly controls the shaping process by accessing computer-aided
design (CAD) files. We can thus use RP to form a 3D component without the use of a die or a
mold. RP techniques are used commercially for fabrication of parts from polymers for design
verification and form-and- fit applications; these techniques have more recently been applied to
forming parts out of ceramics.

GREEN MACHINING
To obtain the desired shape of a ceramic product it is often necessary to machine it. Machining
can be performed either before or after the product has been sintered. If the machining is done
before sintering, while the component is still in the green state, the process is called green
machining. The advantages of green machining compared to machining the sintered product are
that there is a considerable reduction (10×) in machining time and a 20× reduction in cost because
of less tool wear and the possibility of using cheaper tools.
BINDER BURNOUT:
In pottery, the binder burnout is the removal of water from the shaped clay. The rest of the firing
process causes structure changes and transformations in the silicate itself.
Forming methods for engineering ceramics, like injection molding, produce green bodies that can
contain 30–50 vol% of organic binder
We generally want to remove this binder without cracking or distorting the ceramic compact.
Binder burnout is one of the most likely stages to form defects in the processing of a ceramic:
macroscopic defects, such as cracks and blisters, can be introduced at this stage, and these will
affect the mechanical strength and other properties. An additional complication is that the binder
system used in fabricating many commercial ceramic parts often consists of several components.
These components have different boiling points and decomposition temperatures.
FINAL MACHINING:
Ideally the shaping and forming processes that are employed would produce the ceramic
component in the desired shape with the specified dimensional tolerances and with an acceptable
surface finish. However, in many cases this is not the situation and some final machining (after
firing/sintering) of the ceramic is necessary. Generally final machining is required to
 Meet dimensional tolerances
 Improve the surface finish
 Remove surface flaws
Machining fired ceramics can be expensive and can represent a significant fraction of the total
fabrication costs. Ceramic materials are difficult to machine because they are hard and brittle. The
tooling costs are high because diamond tools are likely to be required or if conventional tools are
used the tool life is very short. Also the time required to machine ceramics is long because if high
tensile loads are applied to the ceramic part it might fracture.
Mechanical approaches to machining ceramics include the following:
 Grinding uses tools in which abrasive particles are embedded in a softer matrix such as
glass, rubber, or polymer resin, or even a metal (as for WC in Co).
 Lapping uses loose abrasive particles placed on a soft cloth.
 Sandblasting uses abrasive particles accelerated by compressed air and directed through a
nozzle at high velocity.
 Water-jet machining uses a high-pressure (∼400 MPa) pumping pressure) water jet to
transport the abrasive particles to the ceramic surface.
High speed metal forming
High speed metal forming or high velocity forming refers to a set of techniques which are used for
metal forming. These techniques could include methods such as explosive forming,
electromagnetic forming and so forth. All these techniques involve imparting a high kinetic energy
to the work piece by accelerating it to a highly velocity, before it is made to hit the appropriate die
or made to undergo the process of plastic the formation.

Advantages of HVF

Highly velocity forming techniques have several advantages over conventional forming

1. Reducing the number of processes required in manufacturing.

2. The strain distribution is much more uniform in a single operation of HVF as compared to
conventional forming techniques. This results in making it easy to produce complex shapes
without inducing unnecessary strains in the material.
3. The tools and other equipment used in the process has quite lightweight compact relatively.
4. Impact welding using highly velocity techniques can produce much better results than the
conventional fusion welding techniques.

Explosive forming

Explosives are used primarily for shaping sheet, plate and tubes, and for sizing and flanging.

The forming tool consists of a die which is comparatively light and does not require any
foundations since the inertia of the tool mass is sufflcient to counteract the applied force. It is
essential, however, to realize that explosive forming is not economically viable when a very
large number of components is required.

Its advantage over the conventional methods lies in the possibility of producing complex parts
very accurately and with very little or no machining, but in small quantities. The saving is due to
the fact that there is no capital cost of presses, tooling, etc. The dies for stand-off operations are
very often made from cheap cast materials such as epoxy or concrete.

The range of metals successfully worked includes: aluminium and its alloys, stainless steels,
magnesium and some of its alloys, titanium and its alloys with aluminium, vanadium and
manganese, refractory metals, copper and its alloys,

Three essential types of techniques characterize the stand-off operations: (i) free forming (cups,
flanging and deep drawing), (ii) cylinder forming, and (iii) bulkhead forming (sheet and plate).
These techniques are shown diagrammatically in Figure 16.62. Cylinder shaping is done in an
open system using high explosives. A transmitting medium other than air is used to sustain the
pressure for a longer period, thus increasing the impulse delivered to the work piece. In general,
the forming of metals can be carried out either in a tank sunk in the ground and filled with water
as the transmitting medium, or in an empty tank with the water being contained in a polythene
bag (in the case of a cylindrical component) or in any suitable, disposable container. The first
method is used for large components that require large charges, where the confinement of
explosion within a large volume of water serves both as a safety measure and as a means of
reducing noise. In such a case, the space between the undeformed metal and the die must be
sealed-off and evacuated to enable full deformation to take place. In the second case, it may not
be necessary to evacuate the air, providing that the die is fitted with a suitable system of
ventilating holes.

A very important aspect of this method of forming is correct die design. The near absence of
spring-back depends on the proper balance of tool profile, avoidance of sharp edges and deep
narrow grooves and the provision of reasonably smooth transition sections.

Bulk forming of sheet is carried out by using either a single blank subjected, possibly, to a series
of shots until the die is filled completely, or by using a mechanically shaped preform which is
then given its final accurate dimensions in an explosive operation (Figure 16.63).
Electromagnetic: