KKKM2833 MANUFACTURING PROCESSES

(EXECUTIVE PROGRAMME)
SEM 1 SESSION 2019/2020

PROCESSING OF CERAMICS
Professor Dr Andanastuti Muchtar
Centre for Materials Engineering and Smart Manufacturing
(Pusat Kejuruteraan Bahan dan Pembuatan Pintar)
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
AT THE END OF THE LECTURE,YOU WILL...

• Appreciate the relationship between the properties of ceramics

and the choice of manufacture of ceramic components
• Understand several techniques for manufacturing products, both
traditional and advanced ceramics

KKKM2833 Sem 1 2019/2020

 INTRODUCTION

1. Traditional ceramics - clay products such as pottery

and bricks, common abrasives, and cement

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 Introduction (cont.)

2. New ceramics (Advanced Ceramics,

Fine Ceramics) - more recently
developed ceramics based on oxides,
carbides, etc., and generally
possessing mechanical or physical
properties superior or unique
compared to traditional ceramics
3. Glasses - based primarily on silica
and distinguished by their
noncrystalline structure
 PROPERTIES OF CERAMICS

• High hardness, electrical and thermal insulating,

chemical stability, and high melting temperatures
• Brittle, virtually no ductility - can cause problems in
both processing and performance of ceramic
products
• Some ceramics are translucent, window glass (based
on silica) being the clearest example

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 PROCESSING OF CERAMICS

• In contrast to polymers and metals, ceramics are not melted

for shaping.
• Why?
• There are methods that are used for both traditional and
advanced ceramics manufacture – however, in the case of
advanced ceramic components, the composition and other
processing parameters are strictly controlled compared to
the manufacture of traditional ceramics.
• Why?

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 PROCESSING OF TRADITIONAL
CERAMICS

• Examples of raw materials: white clay, ball

clay dan white clay powder

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 PROCESSING SEQUENCE OF
TRADITIONAL CERAMICS

• Processing Sequence
1. Preparation of Raw
Materials
2. Forming/Shaping
3. Drying
4. Firing
5. Post Firing

Raw Materials

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 PREPARATION OF RAW MATERIALS

• Comminution
• Crushing
• Grinding
• Crushing – reduction of large lumps from the
mine to smaller sizes
• Grinding/Milling – reducing the small pieces
after crushing to a fine powder

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 CRUSHING
Swing jaw

Fixed jaw

Jaw Crusher

Roll Crusher

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 Roll Crusher
JAW CRUSHER

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 MILLING

Balls

Roller Milling

Stock
+ +

Ball Mill
Air

Impact Grinding
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BALL MILLING IN INDUSTRY

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 TRANSPORTATION OF RAW MATERIALS

Hop car (left) and slur car (right)

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 FORMING/SHAPING

• Dependent on consistency of mixture, as well as

pressure required for forming
• Slip casting - >25% water content
• Plastic forming, hand modeling - 15 to 25%
• Semidry pressing - 10 to 15%
• Dry pressing - <5%

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 Slip Casting
Common method to produce ceramic components

In slip casting, a suspension of ceramic powders in water, called a

slip, is poured into a porous plaster of paris mould so that
water from the mix is gradually absorbed into the plaster to
form a firm layer of clay at the mould surfaces.

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 SLIP CASTING (CONT.)

Slip must be sufficiently fluid to flow into the crevices of the

mould cavity, yet lower water content is desirable for faster
production rates

Two principle variations: drain casting & solid casting

What is the difference between drain casting and solid casting?

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Slip Casting (cont.)
Plaster of Paris
Mould

Green Body

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 Slip Casting (cont.)

• Slip casting in the industry (left)

• Solid Casting – right pic

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 Hand Modelling

Hand Modeling – creation of the ceramic product by manipulating

the mass of plastic clay into the desired geometry

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 Post Processing
• After the shaping of the green body, several other
processes may still be necessary prior to
achieving the end product. For e.g. :

• Drying
• Firing / Sintering
• Film printing and coating
• Surface finishing
• Machining

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 Drying

 First stage – rapid drying with shrinkage

 Second stage – Slow drying without
shrinkage
 Shrinkage of 15-20% occur during drying
when the liquid between the particles is
removed and the interparticle separation
is reduced.

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 Drying (cont.)

• Drying is a critical stage due to the tendency of the part to

warp or crack, from variations in the moisture content and
the thickness within the part.

• Warping effects generally may be reduced by ensuring

uniform drying and decreasing the average drying
shrinkage.

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 Firing

• Firing – green body fired in a kiln

• Also known as sintering; similar to powder metallurgy
• Accompanied by shrinkage
• Firing/sintering of ceramics is important to improve mechanical
properties
• Traditional ceramics: 1000-1300°C
• Improvement in properties results from:
• Development of a strong bond between the complex
particles in the ceramic
• Reduced porosity

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 Firing (cont.)

• Post firing processes – applying ‘decals’ or glazing

(Most ceramics products are coated with slip that
will form glassy coating after firing).
• Decalcomania is an indirect printing method
whereby the pattern is first printed on a special
paper before being transferred to the ceramic
product.

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 FINISHING

• Printing decals (top), Sticking ‘decals’ (left) and hand painting

(right)

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GALLERY : MANUFACTURE OF LABU
SAYONG

KRAF SAZILAH LABU SAYONG WORKSHOP

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RAW MATERIALS MIXING

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MIXING IN THE
ADDITIVES THE SLIP

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SLIP CASTING PLASTER OF PARIS
MOULDS

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GREEN BODY
FINISHING POTTER’S WHEEL

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 See
GREEN BODIES video!

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SELF MADE KILN COMMERCIAL KILN

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ENGRAVED GREEN BODY

END PRODUCT

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 PROCESSING OF ADVANCED CERAMICS

• Superior strength and hardness

• Improved brittleness
• Strict control to avoid contamination
• Use of additives, e.g.
• Plasticisers, binders, wetting agents. Deflocculants and
lubricants

Radomes for missiles

 PROCESSING STEPS

• Powder preparation
• Examples of powder synthesis
methods:
• Co-precipitation for Y-TZP, Ce-
TZP, etc. nanopowders and
YBa2Cu3Ox superconductors
• Sol-gel processing for YBa2Cu3Ox
superconductors, mullite, silica,
etc.
Particle size – nanometer or
• Freeze drying for submicron
superconductors Ultra purity fine-grained
• Spray drying for zirconia powders = 99.99% -
powders and YBa2Cu3Ox 99.9999%
superconductors

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 PROCESSING STEPS (CONT.)

• Forming Methods (some examples)

• Slip Casting, Extrusion and Dry Pressing
• Hot & Isostatic Pressing
• Doctor-blade Process
• Ceramics Injection Moulding
• Sintering at 70-90% of melting temp (1200-1800°C)
• Finishing
• Surface finishing, minor geometrical modifications

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 DOCTOR BLADE PROCESS

• To make thin sheets of green ceramic cast as flexible tape

• Used as substrates for integrated circuits and capacitors.

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DOCTOR BLADE PROCESS (CONT.)

• Tape caster

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 Doctor Blade Process (cont.)

• Picture on right shows green tape

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CERAMICS INJECTION MOULDING

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 Ceramic Injection Moulding
Products

 very good wear and corrosion resistance for chemical engineering,

biomedical, dental and electrical applications.
(http://www.wundermold.com/pages/ceram_prod.html)

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 SINTERING

Ceramic components being

loaded into a furnace

• Box furnace

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