Chapter 13: Applications and

Processing of Ceramics

ISSUES TO ADDRESS...
• How do we classify ceramics?

• What are some applications of ceramics?

• How is processing of ceramics different than for metals?

Chapter 13 - 1
 Classification of Ceramics

Ceramic Materials

Glasses Clay Refractories Abrasives Cements Advanced

products ceramics
-optical -whiteware -bricks for -sandpaper -composites -engine
-composite -structural high T -cutting -structural rotors
reinforce (furnaces) -polishing valves
-containers/ Adapted from Fig. 13.1 and discussion in
bearings
household Section 13.2-8, Callister & Rethwisch 9e. -sensors

Chapter 13 - 2
 Ceramics Application: Die Blanks

• Die blanks: die Ad

-- Need wear _________ properties! Ao tensile
force
die
• Die surface: Adapted from Fig. 11.9(d),
Callister & Rethwisch 9e.
-- 4 μm _______________ diamond
particles that are __________ onto a
cemented ___________________
substrate.
-- polycrystalline _______ gives uniform
hardness in all directions to reduce
wear.

Courtesy Martin Deakins, GE

Superabrasives, Worthington,
OH. Used with permission.

Chapter 13 - 3
 Ceramics Application:
Cutting Tools
• Tools:
-- for grinding glass, ________ ,
carbide, ceramics
-- for cutting Si wafers
-- for oil drilling

• Materials: oil drill bits blades

-- manufactured single crystal
or ___________ diamonds Single crystal
diamonds
in a metal or resin matrix.
-- polycrystalline diamonds
polycrystalline
_______ by microfracturing diamonds in a resin
along cleavage planes. matrix.
Photos courtesy Martin Deakins,
GE Superabrasives, Worthington,
OH. Used with permission.

Chapter 13 - 4
 Ceramics Application: Sensors
• Example: ZrO2 as an _______ sensor
Ca 2+
• Principle: Increase diffusion rate of _______
to produce rapid response of sensor signal to
change in ________ concentration
• Approach: A substituting Ca2+ ion
removes a Zr 4+ ion and
Add ____________________: an O2- ion.
-- increases O2- vacancies
-- increases O2- diffusion rate
• Operation: sensor
-- voltage ________ produced when gas with an reference
O2- ions diffuse from the external unknown, higher gas at fixed
oxygen content O2-
surface through the sensor to the oxygen content
diffusion
reference gas surface.
-- magnitude of ________ difference
 partial pressure of oxygen at the + -
voltage difference produced!
external surface
Chapter 13 - 5
 Refractories
• Materials to be used at high temperatures (e.g., in
______________________________).
• Consider the Silica (SiO2) - Alumina (Al2O3) system.
• Silica ________ - silica rich - small additions of alumina
depress melting temperature (__________________):
2200 3Al2O3-2SiO2
T(ºC)
mullite
2000 Liquid
(L) alumina + L

Fig. 12.25, Callister & Rethwisch 9e.

1800 [Adapted from F. J. Klug, S. Prochazka, and
crystobalite mullite alumina R. H. Doremus, “Alumina–Silica Phase

+L +L +
Diagram in the Mullite Region,” J. Am.
Ceram. Soc., 70[10], 758 (1987). Reprinted
1600 mullite by permission of the American Ceramic
Society.]
mullite
+ crystobalite
1400
0 20 40 60 80 100
Composition (wt% alumina)
Chapter 13 - 6
 Advanced Ceramics:
Materials for Automobile Engines

• Advantages:
– Operate at ______
temperatures – high
efficiencies
– ____________________
– Operate without a cooling
system
– Lower weights than
current engines
• Disadvantages:
– Ceramic materials are
__________
– Difficult to remove internal
voids (that weaken
structures)
– _______ parts are difficult
to form and machine

• Potential candidate materials: ____________________

• Possible engine parts: engine block & piston coatings

Chapter 13 - 7
 Advanced Ceramics:
Materials for Ceramic Armor
Components:
-- __________________
-- Backing sheet

Properties/Materials:
-- Facing plates -- _______________
— fracture high-velocity projectile
— Al2O3, B4C, SiC, TiB2
-- Backing sheets -- __________________
— deform and absorb remaining energy
— aluminum, synthetic fiber laminates

Chapter 13 - 8
 Nanocarbons
• ___________ – spherical cluster of 60 carbon atoms, C60
– Like a soccer ball
• Carbon __________ – sheet of graphite rolled into a tube
– Ends capped with fullerene hemispheres
Fig. 12.19, Callister
& Rethwisch 8e.

Fig. 13.7, Callister & Rethwisch 9e. Chapter 13 - 9

 Nanocarbons (cont.)
• Graphene – single-atomic-layer of ____________
– composed of hexagonally _____ bonded carbon atoms

Fig. 13.9, Callister & Rethwisch 9e.

Chapter 13 - 10
 Ceramic Fabrication Methods (i)

GLASS PARTICULATE CEMENTATION

FORMING FORMING
• Blowing ________________: • _______: plates, cheap glasses
Pressing -- glass formed by __________ of
Gob
operation
pressure
Parison
-- mold is steel with ___________
mold lining
• Fiber drawing:
Compressed
air

Suspended
parison

Finishing wind up
mold
Fig. 13.13, Callister & Rethwisch 9e. (Adapted from C.J. Phillips, Glass: The
Miracle Maker. Reproduced by permission of Pittman Publishing Ltd., London.) Chapter 13 - 11
 Sheet Glass Forming
• Sheet forming – ______________ casting
– sheets are formed by floating the ________ glass on a pool
of ___________________

Fig. 13.14, Callister & Rethwisch 9e.

(Courtesy of Pilkington Group Limited.)

Chapter 13 - 12
 Glass Structure
• Basic Unit: Glass is ____________ (amorphous)
4- • Fused ______ is SiO2 to which no
Si0 4 ___________ impurities have been added
Si 4+ • Other common ________ contain
O2 - impurity ions such as Na+, Ca2+,
Al3+, and B3+

• Quartz is ______________
Na +
SiO2:
Si 4+
O2 -

(soda glass)
Adapted from Fig. 12.11,
Callister & Rethwisch 9e.

Chapter 13 - 13
 Glass Properties
• _________________ (1/ρ) vs Temperature (T ):
• __________ materials:
Specific volume
-- crystallize at melting temp, Tm
-- have _____________ in spec.
Supercooled Liquid
Liquid (disordered)
vol. at Tm

Glass • __________:
(amorphous solid)
-- do not crystallize
Crystalline -- change in ____ in spec. vol. curve at
(i.e., ordered) solid
glass transition temperature, Tg
Tg Tm T -- transparent - no grain boundaries to
Adapted from Fig. 13.11,
scatter light
Callister & Rethwisch 9e.

Chapter 13 - 14
 Glass Properties: Viscosity

• Viscosity, η:
-- relates __________ (τ) and _______________ (dv/dy):

τ
dy dv
glass dv
dy
τ
velocity gradient

η has units of (Pa-s)

Chapter 13 - 15
 Log Glass Viscosity vs. Temperature
• soda-lime glass: 70% SiO2
• ________ decreases with T balance Na2O (soda) & CaO (lime)
• borosilicate (Pyrex):
13% B2O3, 3.5% Na2O, 2.5% Al2O3
• Vycor: 96% SiO2, 4% B2O3
• fused silica: > 99.5 wt% SiO2
Viscosity [Pa-s]

10 14 _______ point
__________ point
10 10

10 6 _________________:
glass-forming carried out
10 2 Fig. 13.12, Callister & Rethwisch 9e.
Tmelt (From E.B. Shand, Engineering Glass,
1 Modern Materials, Vol. 6, Academic Press,
New York, 1968, p. 262.)
200 600 1000 1400 1800 T(ºC)

Chapter 13 - 16
 Heat Treating Glass
• _________:
-- removes ______ stresses caused by uneven cooling.
• __________:
-- puts surface of glass part into ___________
-- suppresses ______________ from surface scratches.
-- sequence:
before cooling initial cooling at room temp.
cooler compression
hot hot tension
cooler compression

-- Result: surface crack growth is ____________.

Chapter 13 - 17
 Ceramic Fabrication Methods (iia)

GLASS PARTICULATE CEMENTATION

FORMING FORMING
__________________ forming:
• Mill (grind) and screen constituents: _______________________
• Extrude this mass (e.g., into a brick)

Ao
container die holder
force Fig. 11.9 (c),
ram billet extrusion Ad Callister &
Rethwisch 9e.
container die

• _________________ the formed piece

Chapter 13 - 18
 Ceramic Fabrication Methods (iia)

GLASS PARTICULATE CEMENTATION

FORMING FORMING
________________:
• Mill (grind) and screen _____________: desired particle size
• Mix with __________ and other constituents to form slip
• ________________ operation
pour slip absorb water pour slip drain “green
into mold into mold into mold mold ceramic” Fig. 13.17, Callister
“green & Rethwisch 9e.
ceramic” (From W.D. Kingery,
Introduction to Ceramics,
Copyright © 1960 by
John Wiley & Sons, New
York. Reprinted by
permission of John Wiley
& Sons, Inc.)
solid component hollow component

• Dry and fire the _________________

Chapter 13 - 19
 Typical Porcelain Composition

(50%) 1. Clay
(25%) 2. _________ – e.g. quartz (finely ground)
(25%) 3. _________________ (Feldspar)
-- __________________ plus K+, Na+, Ca+
-- upon firing - forms low-melting-temp. glass

Chapter 13 - 20
 Hydroplasticity of Clay
• Clay is inexpensive Shear
• When _____ is added to clay
-- water molecules fit in between
layered sheets charge
-- reduces degree of ______________ neutral
bonding
-- when external forces applied – clay
particles free to move past one
weak van
another – becomes _____________
der Waals
• Structure of bonding
4+
Kaolinite Clay: charge Si
3+
Fig. 12.14, Callister & Rethwisch 9e. neutral Al
[Adapted from W.E. Hauth, "Crystal Chemistry -
of Ceramics", American Ceramic Society OH
Bulletin, Vol. 30 (4), 1951, p. 140.] 2-
O

Shear Chapter 13 - 21
 Drying and Firing
• ________: as water is removed - interparticle spacings decrease
– ________________.
Fig. 13.18, Callister
& Rethwisch 9e.
(From W.D. Kingery,
Introduction to Ceramics,
Copyright © 1960 by
John Wiley & Sons, New
York. Reprinted by
permission of John Wiley
& Sons, Inc.)

wet body partially dry _____________ dry

Drying too fast causes sample to warp or crack due to non-uniform __________

micrograph of porcelain
Si02 particle
• Firing: (quartz)
-- heat treatment between glass formed
900-1400°C around
the particle
-- _________: liquid glass forms
from clay and flux – flows
between SiO2 particles. (Flux 70 μm
Fig. 13.19, Callister & Rethwisch 9e.
lowers melting temperature). (Courtesy H.G. Brinkies, Swinburne University of
Technology, Hawthorn Campus, Hawthorn,
Victoria, Australia.)
Chapter 13 - 22
 Ceramic Fabrication Methods (iib)

GLASS PARTICULATE CEMENTATION

FORMING FORMING

_______________: used for both clay and non-clay compositions.

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

-- _________ compression - compacted in single direction
-- ________ (hydrostatic) compression - _______________
fluid - powder in rubber envelope
-- Hot pressing - pressure + heat

Chapter 13 - 23
 Sintering
Sintering occurs during ________ of a piece that has
been _____________________
-- powder particles coalesce and reduction of pore size

Fig. 13.21, Callister &

Rethwisch 9e.
Aluminum oxide powder:
-- ____________ at 1700°C Fig. 13.22, Callister & Rethwisch 9e.
for 6 minutes. (From W. D. Kingery, H. K. Bowen, and D.
R. Uhlmann, Introduction to Ceramics, 2nd
edition, p. 483. Copyright © 1976 by John
Wiley & Sons, New York. Reprinted by
permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)

15 μm
Chapter 13 - 24
 Tape Casting
• Thin sheets of ______________ cast as flexible tape
• Used for integrated circuits and _______________
• Slip = suspended ceramic particles + organic liquid
(contains binders, _________)

Fig. 13.23, Callister &

Rethwisch 9e.
Chapter 13 - 25
 Ceramic Fabrication Methods (iii)

GLASS PARTICULATE CEMENTATION

FORMING FORMING
• Hardening of a _______ – paste formed by mixing cement
material with water
• Formation of ______ structures having varied and complex
shapes
• Hardening process – _____________ (complex chemical
reactions involving ______________________________)
• Portland cement – production of:
-- mix clay and _______________________
-- calcine (heat to 1400°C)
-- grind into fine powder

Chapter 13 - 26
 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)

Chapter 13 - 27