In today’s engineering field, as most engineering ceramics need to be precision machined when used as structural components, especially for ceramic components with complex shapes and high precision requirements. Since ceramics shrink and deform during the sintering process, their dimensional tolerance and surface finish are difficult to meet the requirements, so precision machining is required after sintering. In addition to achieving the dimensional accuracy of the product and improving the surface finish, the precision machining of ceramics can also remove surface defects. Some precision ceramic components (such as Si3N4, ZrO2 ceramic bearings, ZrO2 and Al2O3 artificial hip joint ceramic balls) also need to be finely ground and polished to achieve a mirror or even super-mirror surface finish, so ceramic precision machining is an indispensable key process.
However, since structural ceramics are mainly bonded by covalent bonds, ionic bonds, or a mixture of chemical bonds, they present different properties from metals. At room temperature, the deformation resistance to shear force is very large. Ceramic materials generally have high shear stress resistance and low tensile stress resistance. At the same time, the elastic modulus is quite large, and they are hard and brittle materials; at the same time, they have high strength and hardness, making them difficult to process. On the one hand, the high strength, high hardness and high brittleness of structural ceramics bring great difficulties to precision machining, and cracks and damage can occur if you are not careful; on the other hand, the cost and expense of fine machining are also quite high. Therefore, the continuous development of high-efficiency, high-quality and low-cost precision machining technology for ceramic materials has become a hot issue in the ceramic engineering community at home and abroad.
At present, the most widely used ceramic precision machining technology is still mechanical machining, such as grinding, lapping, polishing, etc. In addition, technologies such as electrospark machining, chemical machining, laser machining, and ultrasonic machining that have been developed in the past decade have also been used in production.
The main processing methods for ceramic materials are:
1. Mechanical machining: grinding, lapping, polishing
2. Electrical machining: electrospark
3. Optical machining: laser, ultrasonic
4. Chemical machining: chemical corrosion, electrophoresis
5. Composite machining: ultrasonic, electrospark,chemical/mechanical/ELID grinding
Edgetech specializes in manufacturing a range of high-performance ceramic components, encompassing zirconia, Alumina, silicon carbide,
Silicon nitride, aluminum nitride, etc. Renowned for their exceptional thermal stability, electrical insulation properties, high-temperature resilience, and wear resistance, these ceramic parts play a pivotal role in numerous vital industries, including aerospace, electronics, machinery, military, automotive, and beyond.