Ceramic Manufacturing Services

Ceramic manufacturing services providers produce parts and assemblies made of ceramic or refractory materials.  This includes electrical, refractory or thermal, optical, wear and mechanical or structural usages.

Suppliers of ceramic manufacturing services may offer a variety of ceramic service capabilities.  Supplier services can include assembly of components of ceramics to other ceramic, metal or plastic components.  Formation of a ceramic part to a designer's print or specifications using a casting, extrusion, isostatic pressing or other forming process as well as additional machining and finishing steps as required.  Supplier can assist with concepts, manufacturing costs, manufacturing techniques and material considerations. Supplier may also be able to assist in upgrading or redesigning, re-evaluating or modernizing existing products to increase performance and/or reduce manufacturing costs. Service capabilities can include development of new or specialized ceramic or refractory compositions on a contract basis to meet the requirements for specific applications.  Also, research into underlying factors or properties required for consistently controlling material critical components and maintaining product performance.  The supplier will evaluate the application and recommended the most suitable ceramic or refractory materials.  The supplier typically reviews the environmental conditions (temperature, atmosphere, flow), materials or chemicals processed and equipment (furnace, boiler, turbine, etc.) to determine the structural, thermal and other property requirements.  Reverse engineering is the analysis or digitization of existing ceramic, metal or refractory components to duplicate or replace parts where drawings or prints have been lost or damaged.  Inspection or testing services for existing in-service or newly fabricated refractory or ceramic components such as non-destructive testing (NDT), visual inspection, chemical analysis or structural material testing.

Suppliers of ceramic manufacturing services may offer a variety of fabrication processes. Casting fabrication is the fabrication of a ceramic or refractory shape using a fusion, slip, thixotropic, freeze or castable cement process.  Cold isostatic pressing involves the pressing of ceramic powders in a flexible rubber mold under high pressure (up to 60,000 psi) to form a green part. The parts are subsequently outgassed and fired or sintered.  Suppliers can extrude a plastic ceramic or refractory mixture to form stock with a specific cross-sectional profile.  Grinding capability can provide very smooth and precise material finishes, and can be used to finish high-hardness wear surfaces.  Hot isostatic pressing of presintered parts or of ceramic powders in a welded metal mold under high pressure (up to 60,000 psi) to form a high-density part or preform is another common fabrication process.  Parts can reach or closely approach theoretical density using a HIPing process.  Injection molding involves ceramic powder dispersed in a plastic, wax or other binder material that is melted and injected into a die cavity with the required shape.  The wax or bonder is subsequently burned off and the ceramic part is fired or sintered to consolidate the particles.  Machining can include the capability of very precise machining operations such as turning, milling, boring, etc.  Mechanical pressing fabrication is the pressing of a dry ceramic powder, usually with a wax binder/lubricant, in a die and punch set using a uniaxial, mechanical press.  The die set is configured with the shape required including shrinkage factors.  Ramming or wet pressing fabrication is the pressing of a wet ceramic powder or refractory ramming mixture in a die set or form using a mechanical press.  The die set or form is configured with the shape required including shrinkage factors.  Refractory cements have enough plasticity to allow the mix to be rammed or formed into place in a furnace or in a form.  Ramming material has a putty or caulk like consistency.  Roll Compacting is the processing of compacting a powder between two steel rolls to form a continuous sheet of ceramic material.  Sintering or firing is a thermal consolidation process that utilizes diffusion to bond together the ceramic particles and develop strength in a part.  Toll or powder processing services encompass the milling, treating, blending or conditioning of ceramic powders or blends to provide a raw material suitable for manufacturing components. 

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