Ceramic Fabrication Methods

GLASS PARTICULATE CEMENTATION

FORMING FORMING

• Blowing of Glass Bottles: • Pressing: plates, cheap glasses

Pressing -- glass formed by application of
Gob
operation
pressure
Parison
-- mold is steel with graphite
mold lining
• Fiber drawing:
Compressed
air

Suspended
parison

Finishing
mold wind up
Adapted from Fig. 13.8, Callister & Rethwisch 8e. (Fig. 13.8 is adapted from C.J.
Phillips, Glass: The Miracle Maker, Pittman Publishing Ltd., London.) 1
 Ceramic Fabrication Methods

GLASS PARTICULATE CEMENTATION

FORMING FORMING

Powder Pressing: used for both clay and non-clay compositions.

• Powder (plus binder) compacted by pressure in a mold

-- Uniaxial compression - compacted in single direction

-- Isostatic (hydrostatic) compression - pressure applied by
fluid - powder in rubber envelope
-- Hot pressing - pressure + heat

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UNIAXIAL PRESSING
HOT PRESSING
 Ceramic Fabrication Methods

GLASS PARTICULATE CEMENTATION

FORMING FORMING

Hydroplastic forming:
• Mill (grind) and screen constituents: desired particle size
• Extrude this mass (e.g., into a brick)

Ao
container die holder
force Adapted from
ram billet extrusion Ad Fig. 12.8(c),
Callister &
container die Rethwisch 8e.

• Dry and fire the formed piece

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Ceramic Fabrication Methods (iia)

GLASS PARTICULATE CEMENTATION

FORMING FORMING

Slip casting:
• Mill (grind) and screen constituents: desired particle size
• Mix with water and other constituents to form slip
• Slip casting operation
pour slip absorb water pour slip drain “green
into mold into mold into mold mold ceramic” Adapted from Fig.
“green 13.12, Callister &
ceramic” Rethwisch 8e. (Fig.
13.12 is from W.D.
Kingery, Introduction
to Ceramics, John
Wiley and Sons,
Inc., 1960.)
solid component hollow component

• Dry and fire the cast piece

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Typical Porcelain Composition
(50%) 1. Clay
(25%) 2. Filler – e.g. quartz (finely ground)
(25%) 3. Fluxing agent (Feldspar)
-- aluminosilicates plus K+, Na+, Ca+
-- upon firing - forms low-melting-temp. glass

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Hydroplasticity of Clay Shear
• Clay is inexpensive
• When water is added to clay
-- water molecules fit in between charge
layered sheets
neutral
-- reduces degree of van der Waals
bonding
-- when external forces applied – clay
particles free to move past one weak van
another – becomes hydroplastic der Waals
• Structure of bonding
Kaolinite Clay: 4+
charge Si
3+
Adapted from Fig. 12.14, Callister &
neutral Al
Rethwisch 8e. (Fig. 12.14 is adapted from -
W.E. Hauth, "Crystal Chemistry of
OH
2-
Ceramics", American Ceramic Society O
Bulletin, Vol. 30 (4), 1951, p. 140.)

Shear
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 Drying and Firing
• Drying: as water is removed - interparticle spacings decrease
– shrinkage .
Adapted from Fig.
13.13, Callister &
Rethwisch 8e. (Fig.
13.13 is from W.D.
Kingery, Introduction
to Ceramics, John
Wiley and Sons,
Inc., 1960.)
wet body partially dry completely dry
Drying too fast causes sample to warp or crack due to non-uniform shrinkage

micrograph of porcelain
Si02 particle
• Firing:
(quartz)
-- heat treatment between
glass formed
900-1400ºC around
-- vitrification: liquid glass forms the particle

from clay and flux – flows

between SiO2 particles. (Flux 70mm
lowers melting temperature). Adapted from Fig. 13.14, Callister & Rethwisch 8e.
(Fig. 13.14 is courtesy H.G. Brinkies, Swinburne
University of Technology, Hawthorn Campus,
Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia.)
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Sintering
Sintering occurs during firing of a piece that has
been powder pressed
-- powder particles coalesce and reduction of pore size

Adapted from Fig. 13.16,

Callister & Rethwisch 8e.
Aluminum oxide powder:
-- sintered at 1700ºC
Adapted from Fig. 13.17, Callister
for 6 minutes. & Rethwisch 8e. (Fig. 13.17 is from
W.D. Kingery, H.K. Bowen, and
D.R. Uhlmann, Introduction to
Ceramics, 2nd ed., John Wiley and
Sons, Inc., 1976, p. 483.)

15 mm
12
 Ceramic Fabrication Methods

GLASS PARTICULATE CEMENTATION

FORMING FORMING

• Hardening of a paste – paste formed by mixing cement

material with water
• Formation of rigid structures having varied and complex
shapes
• Hardening process – hydration (complex chemical
reactions involving water and cement particles)

• Portland cement – production of:

-- mix clay and lime-bearing minerals
-- calcine (heat to 1400ºC)
-- grind into fine powder

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Summary
• Categories of ceramics:
-- glasses -- clay products
-- refractories -- cements
-- advanced ceramics

• Ceramic Fabrication techniques:

-- glass forming (pressing, blowing, fiber drawing).
-- particulate forming (hydroplastic forming, slip casting,
powder pressing, tape casting)
-- cementation

• Heat treating procedures

-- glasses—annealing, tempering
-- particulate formed pieces—drying, firing (sintering)

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