CERAMICS

OVERVIEW

A ceramic is an inorganic non-metallic solid made up of either metal or non-metal compounds

that have been shaped and then hardened by heating to high temperatures. In general, they are
hard, corrosion-resistant and brittle.

Ceramic comes from the Greek word meaning ‘pottery’. The clay-based domestic wares, art
objects and building products are familiar to us all, but pottery is just one part of the ceramic
world.

Ceramics are all around us.  

This category of materials includes things like tile, bricks, plates, glass, and toilets. 

 Ceramics can be found in products like watches (quartz tuning forks-the time keeping devices
in watches), snow skies (piezoelectric-ceramics that stress when a voltage is applied to them),
automobiles (sparkplugs and ceramic engine parts found in racecars), and phone lines.  They
can also be found on space shuttles, appliances (enamel coatings), and airplanes (nose cones).  

Depending on their method of formation, ceramics can be dense or lightweight.  

Typically, they will demonstrate excellent strength and hardness properties; however, they are
often brittle in nature.  

Ceramics can also be formed to serve as electrically conductive materials, objects allowing
electricity to pass through their mass, or insulators, materials preventing the flow of electricity. 
 Some ceramics, like superconductors, also display magnetic properties.

History of Ceramics

Timeline of Selected Ceramic Development

Year Development

24,000 B.C. Ceramic figurines used for ceremonial purposes

14,000 B.C. First tiles made in Mesopotamia and India

9000-10,000 Pottery making begins

B.C.
5000-8000 Glazes discovered in Egypt
B.C.

1500 B.C. Glass objects first made

1550 A.D. Synthetic refractories (temperature resistant) for furnaces used to

make steel, glass, ceramics, cement

Mid 1800’s Porcelain electrical insulation

Incandescent light bulb

1920’s High-strength quartz-enriched porcelain for insulators

Alumina spark plugs
Glass windows for automobiles

1940’s Capacitors and magnetic ferrites

1960’s Alumina insulators for voltages over 220 kV

Application of carbides and nitrides

1970’s Introduction of high-performance cellular ceramic substrates for

catalytic converters and particulate filters for diesel engines

1980’s High temperature superconductors

Ceramic raw materials are usually classified according to their functions in ceramic
manufacture as well as their basic properties.  It generally divides the ceramic raw materials in
two basic groups that are the plastic and non-plastic raw materials.

 Plastic ceramic raw materials involve any clay material that when mixed with water
reveals the property called plasticity. (Plasticity may be defined as a property which allows the
deformation of the clay when an external force is removed.) The large group of non-plastic
ceramic raw materials include minerals, rocks and artificial chemicals that when mixed with
water is not plastic. A part of the non-plastic ceramic raw materials acts as a filler (something
that is used to fill gaps), reducing high plasticity or shrinkage of the body when drying or firing.
On the other hand, other non-plastic raw materials are used for sintering (the process of
compacting and forming a solid mass of material by heat and/or pressure without melting it to
the point of liquefaction), fluxing (promotes melting) and melting or to increase the
refractoriness (ability to retain its physical shape and chemical identity when subjected to high
temperatures)

The classic or "triaxial" ceramic body consists of three major components: clay, quartz
which is a non-plastic material and feldspar, that acts as a flux providing the glassy phase.
Typical raw materials normally used in a ceramic tile are clay, feldspar, pottery stone, silica sand
and talc.

Clay 
Generally, the most important component of a ceramic tile body is clay. Clay is a term for
naturally occurring mineral aggregates (inert granular materials) consisting mainly of the
hydrous silicate of alumina. There is considerable variation in the clay's mineral content and
degree of purity. Clay serves various functions such as a binder (any material or substance that
holds or draws other materials together), a suspension aid and an inexpensive source of
alumina and silica.

Clay is the fundamental raw material for all ceramic bodies. The functions of the clays in
the ceramic tile are as follows:

 produces a light colouring during firing

 gives plasticity and binding characteristics to the mass

 enhances mechanical characteristic in the fired tiles

 produces good rheological flow properties

 gives a good density level during firing due to the individual characteristic of the
clays

Clays were formed by alteration, through aging and weathering of rocks such as granite,
feldspar, mica and quartz. At the origin, they are known as residual or primary clays.

Feldspar [name given to a group of minerals distinguished by the presence of alumina and silica
(SiO2)]

Feldspar is an important and common fluxing material for ceramic bodies as well as glazes and
one of the three essential raw materials for the triaxial body. Feldspar provides the glassy phase
for the ceramic bodies and they are added to decrease the firing temperature and thus to
reduce cost. Feldspars are found in pegmatite rocks usually of the granite type which can be
considered as a mixture of feldspar minerals together with quartz and mica.

Silica 
Silica is the most abundant oxide on the earth's crust. A large amount of silica occurs as free
silica that is mostly in the form of quartz although most of it is combined with other elements in
the silicate minerals

Addition of silica sand decreases its unfired strength and plasticity but assist to facilitate
escape of gases during drying and firing. It also reduces drying shrinkage and increases the
whiteness of the fired body 

Silica exists in a great variety of forms.

Talc
Talc has the chemical composition 3MgO.4SiO2.H2O and is used in small quantities (2-6%) in
the vitrified tile body composition to enhance the fluxing action of feldspathic materials.

Use of small amounts of talc with feldspathic fluxes can lead to higher modulus of
rupture in the fired product and improved whiteness level

PROCESS

Properties of Ceramics
 1. Physical
a. Hardness
- the hardness of alumina ceramics is 3x than stainless steel
- silicon carbide is 4x harder than stainless steel
b. Rigidity – “stiffness”
- generally measured using Young's modulus. It can be defined as the "force
necessary to bend a material to a given degree."
- Ceramics possess high rigidity
c. Fracture Toughness – ability of a material containing a crack to resist fracture
- ceramics have low toughness
d. Specific Gravity
- Ceramics are lighter than high-strength metals

2. Chemical
a. Chemical Resistance
- highly resistant to chemicals because they possess high levels of chemical
stability
b. Biocompatibility
3. Thermal
a. Heat Resistance
- Ceramics can withstand high temperature
b. Thermal Expansion - When materials are heated, their size and volume increase in
small increments, in a phenomenon known as thermal expansion.
- Ceramics have low thermal expansion
c. Thermal Conductivity
- Depends on the composition of ceramics
4. Electrical
a. Insulation
b. Nonmagnetism
Classification of Ceramics

1. Glass
- Amorphous substance made from a glass that is cooled down and then reheated
in a second step.
- Example: induction stove
2. Cement
- Fine powder made by mixing, firing and grinding minerals such as limestone and
silica, which bind stone and sand through hydration to make concrete.
3. Refractories
- Able to withstand high temperatures: used in the construction of kilns for
making iron, steel and glass.
4. Grinding Wheels
- Made by binding fine-grain alumina and silicon carbide.
5. Porcelain Enamels
- Porcelain coated with metal plate or with fused glass.
- Also called “vitreous enamel”
-  it is smooth, hard, chemically resistant, durable, scratch resistant, has long-
lasting color fastness, is easy to clean, and cannot be burned
- Example: bath tub
6. Pottery and Ceramics
- Made by forming and firing raw materials including clay and pottery stones. They
are divided into several categories, such as earthenware and porcelain,
depending on such factors as raw material composition, firing temperatures and
water absorption. Fine Ceramics are primarily composed of unique minerals such
as alumina porcelain.
a. Earthenware
- Includes clay biscuit vessels that are kneaded, shaped and fired at low
temperatures (approx. 800oC )
- Earliest form of pottery
- Soft and can be scratched w/ a knife
- Permeable to water
- Water absorption of 5-8%
b. Stoneware
- These ceramics are composed of purer clay, fire-hardened and lacking water
absorption properties.
- Can resist scratching of steel point
- Nonporous
- Impermeable to water
c. Porcelain
- Includes colorfully glazed, white ceramics hardened by forming and firing
mixtures of high-purity clays (or pottery stones), silicas and feldspars. 
- chinaware
- Completely vitrified, hard, impermeable (even before glazing), white or
artificially coloured and resonant.
d. Fine Ceramics
- Engineered materials with chemical compositions that are precisely adjusted
using refined or synthesized raw powders and well-controlled methods of
forming, sintering and processing. With higher levels of functionality compared
to conventional ceramics, they are widely used in fields such as semiconductors,
automobiles and industrial machinery. Fine Ceramics are also called new
ceramics or advanced ceramics.
Hazards:

Dust - Most ceramic materials (clay and glazes) are made from finely ground minerals. While
not overtly toxic, they pose a general respiratory risk.

Toxic materials - Some ceramic materials pose health risks beyond the dust factor because they
affect the human body in some specific way.

Heat - Ceramic work is fired in kilns to harden the clay and melt the glazes. The range of
temperatures used in ceramics is from 1600º F. to 2400º F.

Firing Toxins- Sulfides, chlorides, fluorides, and to a lesser extent carbonates. This can include
many materials such as impure clay, crude feldspars, flourspars, Cornish stone, gypsum,
lepidolite, cryrolite, and others.

Industry Updates:

Some ceramic manufacturers in the Philippines:

Mariwasa Siam Ceramics Inc.

Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd.

Evergreen Ceramics Arts

Cardinal Ceramics Mfg.

Top ceramics manufacturers in the world

1. Saint-Gobain

Tour Les Miroirs, 18 Avenue d’Alsace

92 096 La Défense Cedex, France

2. Corning Inc.

One Riverfront Plaza, Corning, NY 14831

3. AGC Group
1-5-1, Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo 100-8405, Japan

4. Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

10-1, Higashikotari 1-chome, Nagaokakyo-shi Kyoto 617-8555, Japan

5. The NSG Group

Sumitomo Fudosan Mita Twin Building

West Wing, 5-27, Mita 3-Chrome
Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-6321, Japan