Despite the significant progress, which has been made in developing of ceramic materials desired for engineering applications, their mass production is still not on expected level. Among the key factors hindering higher exploitation of these materials the problems in processing were identified. The processing comprises powder production, mixing techniques, forming, and sintering. All of them are equally important and all of them can introduce defects into the material. Besides improvement in processing, the properties of ceramic materials can be considerably improved by the creation of composites. Composites formed at micro or macro level are able to form more flaw-tolerant material. Considerable research activities, working on above mentioned phenomena are in progress at industrial laboratories as well as other research centres. This volume presents the contributions to the Advanced Research Workshop "Engineering Ceramics '96" with 65 participants from 21 countries held on 12th - 15th May 1996 at Smolenice Castle, Slovakia, the conference site of Slovak Academy of Sciences. The book covers research activities on engineering ceramic materials and gives an overview with respect to recent developments.

A survey of current research on a wide range of carbide, nitride and boride materials, covering the general issues relevant to the development and characterisation of a variety of advanced materials. Topics include structure and electronic properties, modeling, processing, high-temperature chemistry, oxidation and corrosion, mechanical behaviour, manufacturing and applications. The volume complements more specialised books on specific materials as well as more general texts on ceramics or hard materials, presenting a survey of materials research as a key to technological development. After decades of research, the materials are being used in electronics, wear resistant, refractory and other applications, but numerous new applications are possible. Roughly equal numbers of papers cover theoretical and experimental research in the general field of materials science of refractory materials. Audience: Researchers and graduate students in materials science and engineering.

The production of high-purity ceramic materials from low-molecular weight, inorganic or organoelement precursors is a topic of increasing relevance within materials science. With this emerging technology it is possible to precisely tailor the properties of the ceramic material which enables new high-temperature or electronic applications. Every materials scientist and engineer involved in the research and development of new high-performance ceramic materials will find these results - presented at a recent workshop of the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft - of great importance for his own work.

Cutting edge high temperature materials include high temperature superconductors, solid oxide fuel cells, thermoelectric materials and ultrahigh temperature construction materials (including metals, cermets and ceramics) and have applications in key areas such as energy, transportation and space technologies. This book introduces the concepts which underpin research into these critical materials including thermodynamics, kinetics and various physical, chemical and modelling techniques with a focus on practical “how to” methods and covers: Introduction to High Temperature Research Basic Design of High Temperature Furnaces Temperature Measurement Radiation Pyrometry Refractory Materials in the Laboratory Vacuum in Theory and Practice The Design of Vacuum Furnaces and Thermobalances With highly detailed instrument illustrations and an emphasis on the control and measurement of the fundamental properties of temperature, pressure and mass, High Temperature Experiments in Chemistry and Materials Science provides a practical reference on high temperature measurements, for researchers, advanced students and those working in academic or industrial laboratories. Introduction to High Temperature Research Basic Design of High Temperature Furnaces Temperature Measurement Radiation Pyrometry Refractory Materials in the Laboratory Vacuum in Theory and Practice The Design of Vacuum Furnaces and Thermobalances

A unique combination of the basic science and fundamental aspects of joints and interfaces with the engineering aspects of the subject. Contributors include researchers drawn from several Eastern European countries. Topics addressed include processing, interfacial reactions, graded joints, residual stress measurement and analysis, and failure and deformation. Audience: Academic and industrial researchers and ceramic manufacturers interested in understanding the current state of the art in joining.

Although ceramics have been known to mankind literally for millennia, research has never ceased. Apart from the classic uses as a bulk material in pottery, construction, and decoration, the latter half of the twentieth century saw an explosive growth of application fields, such as electrical and thermal insulators, wear-resistant bearings, surface coatings, lightweight armour, or aerospace materials. In addition to plain, hard solids, modern ceramics come in many new guises such as fabrics, ultrathin films, microstructures and hybrid composites. Built on the solid foundations laid down by the 20-volume series Materials Science and Technology, Ceramics Science and Technology picks out this exciting material class and illuminates it from all sides. Materials scientists, engineers, chemists, biochemists, physicists and medical researchers alike will find this work a treasure trove for a wide range of ceramics knowledge from theory and fundamentals to practical approaches and problem solutions.