ON THE MACHINABILITY OF CERAMIC COMPACTS

Conventional machining of compacted ceramic pre-forms can be a cost-ef fective method of making small production runs of complex-shaped engin eering ceramics. This paper discusses the factors influencing chipping resistance and edge retention for two spray-dried zirconia powders. T he chipping resistance did not deteriorate significantly, neither did the swarf size change after pre-sintering the components at temperatur es up to 1000 degrees C despite a twenty-fold increase in compact stre ngth. rt is argued that machinability is only indirectly dependent on compact strength but is dependent directly on the initial defect size and cutting parameters. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Limited.