New materials are vitally important in industrial development. They ar
e mostly the start of a technology chain leading to the final product
via a number of value-added stages. Application experience often produ
ces feedback for improvement and optimization of the production proces
s and the material itself. Machining ceramics makes high demands in te
rms of component quality and process economics. 'Ceramic-adapted machi
ning' is therefore essential for production of advanced ceramic compon
ents. This includes both optimization of existing processes and develo
pment and testing of new machining technologies. This article presents
material-adapted machining technologies and their potential for advan
ced ceramic components. (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Limited.