Machining of Ceramics

Machining of Ceramics

Machining of Ceramics - Most ceramics are hard and act as abrasives themselves. Therefore their machining is very often limited to abrasion by a yet harder ceramic. Diamond can be used to dress grinding wheels or to finish tool bits or ceramic (e.g., Al2 03) components.

All abrasive processes includhlg grinding*, lapping, polishing, ultrasonic machining, gritblasting, and hydrohoning, are employed for both overall finishing and localized shaping of ceramic (including glass) parts. Ceramics that are susceptible to chemical attack (as glass is to HF acid) can be chemically machined* (etched).

Metal matrix composites, such as WC tool bits can be conventionally ground with diamond or the electrical conductivity of the matrix can be exploited by electro discharge or chemical machining and grinding.