Ceramics Materials: Processes, Properties and Applications
Primarily an introduction to ceramic materials, this authoritative reference examines both traditional and "technical" ceramics and their respective properties and applications.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Ceramics Materials: Processes, Properties and Applications
Part I: Ceramics Materials and Processes
Chapter List
- Chapter 1: Ceramic Compounds Ceramic Materials
- Chapter 2: History of Ceramics
- Chapter 3: Sintering and Microstructure of Ceramics
- Chapter 4: Silicate Ceramics
- Chapter 5: Ceramic Forming Processes
- Chapter 6: Alumina, Mullite and Spinel, Zirconia
- Chapter 7: Non-oxide Ceramics
Boch Philippe, Jean-Fran ois Baumard
1.1 Ceramics
Defining what the term "ceramic" means is not simple, as there is no single definition on which everyone agrees; there are in fact various definitions depending on the point of view adopted. We can thus consider the points of view of a historian, a scientist (physicist, chemist, etc.), an engineer or a manufacturer.
1.1.1 Ceramics and terra cotta
The concept of ceramics is historically related to the concept of terra cotta and pottery, from which the Greek term ? ? ? ? ?o ? derives. This vision refers to the soils, the crushed rocks, that is, the geological materials and it also highlights firing: ceramic art is the art of fire, even if the ceramist has his feet in clay
The potter chooses suitable soils, primarily clay soils, which in the wet state offer the plasticity required to model them in the desired form: cup, vase or statuette. Then the piece is dried and water loss makes it lose its plasticity, but rehydration would restore the clay's initial properties. In fact, dried clay is not yet a ceramic, although it is utilized in the production of rudimentary bricks used in very dry countries like Saharan Africa. It is in fact the...
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