CERAMICS

Introduction
Ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling.
Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous
(e.g. glass). Because most common ceramics are crystalline, the definition of ceramic is often
restricted to inorganic crystalline materials, as opposed to the non-crystalline glasses.

The earliest ceramics were pottery objects made from clay, either by itself or mixed with other
materials, hardened in fire. Later ceramics were glazed and fired to create a coloured, smooth
surface. Ceramics now include domestic, industrial and building products and art objects. In the
20th century, new ceramic materials were developed for use in advanced ceramic engineering;
e.g., in semiconductors.

The word "ceramic" comes from the Greek word Keramos means burnt stuff. Earlier the term
ceramic was applied to products made from natural earth material that was not exposed to heat.

Classification
A broad classification divides the ceramic products in to two classes:
1) Heavy clay products e.g. bricks, roofing tiles, drain tiles, hollow tiles, stoneware and
refractories
2) Pottery products e.g. chinaware, wall tiles, electric insulation

Ceramic may also be classified as porous and non-porous. The porosity depends on particle size,
moulding pressure and temperature of vitrification.

Ceramic Products Manufacturing

Raw Material
The raw materials for ceramics are divided into following groups.
a) Plastics material such as clay
b) Fluxes such as feldspar
c) Non-plastics materials such as silica

a) Clay
Clay gives the main body to the ceramics. The advantage of using clay are it is plastic when
mixed with water becomes hard after drying and finally it becomes irreversibly solid after firing.
Clay is chosen according to the requirements of particular products and is often blended.
Impurities in common clay incorporate specific qualities as follows.
 Iron oxide in common clay gives red colour to the burnt material
  Lime, magnesia, iron oxide and alkali oxides act as flux which lowers the fusion point of
clay
 Silica increases its porosity and refractory nature, while decreases shrinkage
 Clay containing very little and good deals of silica are known as fire clays

b) Feldspar
Feldspar is general name given to the group of minerals. Flux materials like feldspar
(Na2OAl2O3.6SiO2) which is easily melting material decreases the melting point of sand or
quartz present in the ceramic body. So, that after firing glass like material obtained is called
vitrified material, which is highly impervious and stable to the environment. Fluxes are used for:
 adding vitrifications,
 reducing porosity
 increasing the strength of cold articles and
 bonding
Feldspar is used as fluxing constituent in ceramic formulations along with clay. The common
fluxing agents which lower the temperature are borax, boric acid, soda ash, sodium nitrate,
potassium carbonate, calcined bones, lead oxides, lithium & barium minerals.

Type of feldspar
 Potash feldspar K2O.Al2O3.6SiO2
 Soda feldspar Na2O.Al2O3.6SiO2
 Lime feldspar CaO.Al2O3.6SiO2

c) Silica or quartz
The non-plastic or leading admixture like sand or quartz gives strength to the body. It is
incorporated in ceramic formulation to reduce shrinkage and cracking which is occurs during
drying and firing.

Ceramic processing generally involves high temperatures, and the resulting materials are heat
resistant or refractory. Traditional ceramics refers to ceramic products that are produced from
unrefined clay and combinations of refined clay and powdered or granulated nonplastic minerals.
Often, traditional ceramics is used to refer to ceramics in which the clay content exceeds 20
percent.

Ceramic products that are made from highly refined natural or synthetic compositions and
designed to have special properties are referred to as advanced ceramics. Advanced ceramics can
be classified according to application as electrical, magnetic, optical, chemical, thermal,
mechanical, biological, and nuclear.
Process Description

The basic steps include raw material procurement, beneficiation, mixing, forming, green
machining, drying, presinter thermal processing, glazing, firing, final processing, and packaging.

Raw Material Procurement

To begin the process, raw materials are transported and stored at the manufacturing facility.
The raw materials used in the manufacture of ceramics range from relatively impure clay
materials mined from natural deposits to ultrahigh purity powders prepared by chemical
synthesis. Naturally occurring raw materials used to manufacture ceramics include silica, sand,
quartz, flint, silicates, and aluminosilicates (e. g., clays and feldspar).

Beneficiation
The basic beneficiation processes include comminution, purification, sizing, classification,
calcining, liquid dispersion, and granulation.
Naturally occurring raw materials often undergo some beneficiation at the mining site or at an
intermediate processing facility prior to being transported to the ceramic manufacturing facility.

Comminution entails reducing the particle size of the raw material by crushing, grinding, and
milling or fine grinding. The purpose of comminution is to liberate impurities, break up
aggregates, modify particle morphology and size distribution, facilitate mixing and forming, and
produce a more reactive material for firing.

Several procedures are used to purify the ceramic material. Water soluble impurities can be
removed by washing with deionized or distilled water and filtering, and organic solvents may be
used for removing water-insoluble impurities. Acid leaching sometimes is employed to remove
metal contaminants. Magnetic separation is used to extract magnetic impurities from either dry
powders or wet slurries. Froth flotation also is used to separate undesirable materials.

Calcining consists of heating a ceramic material to a temperature well below its melting point to
liberate undesirable gases or other material and to bring about structural transformation to
produce the desired composition and phase product.

Liquid dispersion of ceramic powders sometimes is used to make slurries. Slurry processing
facilitates mixing and minimizes particle agglomeration. The primary disadvantage of slurry
processing is that the liquid must be removed prior to firing the ceramic.

Dry powders often are granulated to improve flow, handling, packing, and compaction.
Granulation is accomplished by direct mixing, which consists of introducing a binder solution
during powder mixing.
Mixing
The purpose of mixing or blunging is to combine the constituents of a ceramic powder to
produce a more chemically and physically homogenous material for forming. Pug mills often are
used for mixing ceramic materials. Several processing aids may be added to the ceramic mix
during the mixing stage. Binders and plasticizers are used in dry powder and plastic forming; in
slurry processing, deflocculants, surfactants, and antifoaming agents are added to improve
processing.
Liquids also are added in plastic and slurry processing.

Binders are polymers or colloids that are used to impart strength to green or unfired ceramic
bodies. For dry forming and extrusion, binders amount to 3 percent by weight of the ceramic
mixture.
Plasticizers and lubricants are used with some types of binders. Plasticizers increase the
flexibility of the ceramic mix. Lubricants lower frictional forces between particles and reduce
wear on equipment.
Water is the most commonly used liquid in plastic and slurry processing. Organic liquids such as
alcohols may also be used in some cases. Deflocculants also are used in slurry processing to
improve dispersion and dispersion stability. Surfactants are used in slurry processing to aid
dispersion, and antifoams are used to remove trapped gas bubbles from the slurry.

Forming
In the forming step, dry powders, plastic bodies, pastes, or slurries are consolidated and molded
to produce a cohesive body of the desired shape and size. Dry forming consists of the
simultaneous compacting and shaping of dry ceramic powders in a rigid die or flexible mold.

Green Machining
After forming, the ceramic shape often is machined to eliminate rough surfaces and seams or to
modify the shape. The methods used to machine green ceramics include surface grinding to
smooth surfaces, blanking and punching to cut the shape and create holes or cavities, and
laminating for multilayer ceramics.

Drying
After forming, ceramics must be dried. Drying must be carefully controlled to strike a balance
between minimizing drying time and avoiding differential shrinkage, warping, and distortion.
The most commonly used method of drying ceramics is by convection, in which heated air is
circulated around the ceramics.

Presinter Thermal Processing

Prior to firing, ceramics often are heat-treated at temperatures well below firing temperatures.
The purpose of this thermal processing is to provide additional drying, to vaporize or decompose
organic additives and other impurities, and to remove residual, crystalline, and chemically bound
water. Presinter thermal processing can be applied as a separate step, which is referred to as
bisque firing, or by gradually raising and holding the temperature in several stages.

Glazing
For traditional ceramics, glaze coatings often are applied to dried or bisque-fired ceramic ware
prior to sintering. Glazes consist primarily of oxides and can be classified as raw glazes.
In raw glazes, the oxides are in the form of minerals or compounds that melt readily and act as
solvents for the other ingredients. Some of the more commonly used raw materials for glazes are
quartz, feldspars, and carbonates. Glazes generally are applied by spraying or dipping.

Firing
Firing is the process by which ceramics are thermally consolidated into a dense, cohesive body
comprised of fine, uniform grains. This process also is referred to as sintering or densification. In
general:
(1) Ceramics with fine particle size fire quickly and require lower firing temperatures;
(2) Dense unfired ceramics fire quickly and remain dense after firing with lower shrinkage; and
(3) Irregular shaped ceramics fire quickly.

Parameters that affect firing include firing temperature, time, pressure, and atmosphere. A short
firing time results in a product that is porous and has a low density; a short to intermediate firing
time results in fine-grained high-strength products and long firing times result in a coarse-
grained products that are more creep resistant

Final Processing
Following firing, some ceramic products are processed further to enhance their characteristics or
to meet dimensional tolerances. Ceramics can be machined by abrasive grinding, chemical
polishing, electrical discharge machining, or laser machining. Annealing at high temperature,
followed by gradual cooling can relieve internal stresses within the ceramic and surface stresses
due to machining. In addition, surface coatings are applied to many fired ceramics. Surface
coatings are applied to traditional clay ceramics to create a stronger, impermeable surface and for
decoration.
Coatings also may be applied to improve strength, and resistance to abrasion and corrosion.

Properties of ceramics
The physical and chemical properties of ceramic depend upon component present in it.
 The strength is mainly controlled by the factors like temperature, size and shape,
composition, surface condition and microstructure
 Mechanically they are brittle and highly resistant to compression
  Oxides and carbides which give high chemical and physical stability
 Electrical and magnetic properties are due to composition itself. E.g. oxides are generally
bad conductors where the non-oxides are semiconductors and ceramics with transition
metal ions shows the magnetic properties.
 Transparency depends upon the crystal lattice of ceramic which in turn is dependent of
composition, crystal structure, etc.

A comparative analysis of ceramics with other engineering materials is shown in table

1. The purpose of presenting this comparative analysis is to show importance of ceramics among
different engineering metals and polymers. This comparison would enable to justify application
areas of ceramics.

Table 1 Comparison of ceramics with metals and polymers

Property Ceramic Metal Polymer
Density low high Lowest
hardness highest low Lowest
Ductility low high High
Wear resistance high low low
Corrosion resistance high low low
Thermal conductivity Mostly low high low
Electrical conductivity Mostly low high low