In the wake of the rapid progress made in ceramic science in recent years, advanced ceramic tools with superior mechanical properties have been developed, giving improved productivity, lower production costs and better workpiece quality. An introduction to the history, evolution, material properties, wear and fracture, processing technologies, and performance of various advanced ceramic tools has already been covered in Advanced Ceramic Tools for Machining Application - II.

Advanced ceramic tools represent the latest development of cutting tools used for machining and their application has greatly improved productivity.

Advanced ceramic tools represent the latest development of cutting tools used for machining and their application has greatly improved productivity. This book aims to introduce the fundamentals and skills necessary for effective application of the tools.

This book is primarily an introduction to the vast family of ceramic materials. The first part is devoted to the basics of ceramics and processes: raw materials, powders synthesis, shaping and sintering. It discusses traditional ceramics as well as “technical” ceramics – both oxide and non-oxide – which have multiple developments. The second part focuses on properties and applications, and discusses both structural and functional ceramics, including bioceramics. The fields of abrasion, cutting and tribology illustrate the importance of mechanical properties. It also deals with the questions/answers of a ceramicist regarding electronuclear technology. As chemistry is an essential discipline for ceramicists, the book shows, in particular, what soft chemistry can contribute as a result of sol-gel methods.

This book examines exciting advancements in the field of ceramics, including nanotechnology, clean energy, and tribology as well as fundamental concepts like defects and structure. It is a comprehensive discussion on how today’s ceramics are processed and used in many of today’s critical technologies. It discusses current techniques for synthesizing durable and cost-effective ceramic components with biocompatibility, complexity, and high precision. This book is a comprehensive reference for researchers, engineers, dental clinicians, biologists, academics, and students interested in ceramics.

The nitrides and carbides of boron and silicon are proving to be an excellent choice when selecting materials for the design of devices that are to be employed under particularly demanding environmental and thermal con- tions. The high degree of cross-linking, due to the preferred coordination numbers of the predominantly covalently bonded constituents equalling or exceeding three, lends these non-oxidic ceramics a high kinetic stability, and is regarded as the microscopic origin of their impressive thermal and mechanical durability. Thus it does not come as a surprise that the chemistry, the physical properties and the engineering of the corresponding binary, ternary, and even quaternary compounds have been the subject of intensive and sustained efforts in research and development. In the five reviews presented in the volumes 101 and 102 of "Structure and Bonding" an attempt has been made to cover both the essential and the most recent advances achieved in this particular field of materials research. The scope of the individual contributions is such as to address both graduate students, specializing in ceramic materials, and all scientists in academia or industry dealing with materials research and development. Each review provides, in its introductory part, the chemical, physical and, to some extent, historical background of the respective material, and then focuses on the most relevant and the most recent achievements.

The Fifth International Conference on Advanced Manufacturing Systems and Technology – AMST ’99 – aims at presenting up-to-date information on the latest developments research results and industrial experience in the field of machining of conventional and advanced materials, high speed machining, forming, modeling, nonconventional machining processes, new tool materials and tool systems, rapid prototyping, life cycle of products and quality assurance, thus providing an international forum for a beneficial exchange of ideas, and furthering a favourable cooperation between research and industry.