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Chapter 1, Part II

This document defines ceramics and discusses their microstructure. Ceramics are inorganic, non-metallic materials made through heating processes and contain at least one non-metal. They exhibit either crystalline or amorphous atomic structures. Crystalline ceramics exist as either single crystals or polycrystals made of many crystallites separated by grain boundaries. Common ceramics include oxides, nitrides, borides and silicates.

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38 views10 pages

Chapter 1, Part II

This document defines ceramics and discusses their microstructure. Ceramics are inorganic, non-metallic materials made through heating processes and contain at least one non-metal. They exhibit either crystalline or amorphous atomic structures. Crystalline ceramics exist as either single crystals or polycrystals made of many crystallites separated by grain boundaries. Common ceramics include oxides, nitrides, borides and silicates.

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fayza
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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JIMMA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Fundamentals of Ceramics: Introduction


Lecture-I

FAYZA SHEMSU
Definition of Ceramics

 The word ‘ceramic’ is originated from Greek word


“keromikos”, which means ‘burnt stuff’.
 Ceramics are compounds of metallic and non-metallic
elements.

 Are wide-ranging group of materials whose ingredients


are clays, sand and feldspar.
 Are Inorganic non-metallic materials obtained by the
action of heat and subsequent cooling.
Definition of Ceramics

 Ceramics can be defined as solid compounds that are formed by the


application of heat, and sometimes heat and pressure, comprising at
least two elements provided one of them is a non-metal or a nonmetallic
elemental solid. The other element(s) may be a metal(s) or another
nonmetallic elemental solid(s).
 A somewhat simpler definition was given by Kingery who defined
ceramics as, "the art and science of making and using solid articles,
which have, as their essential component, and are composed in large
part of inorganic nonmetallic materials". In other words, what is neither a
metal, a semiconductor or a polymer is a ceramic.
 To illustrate, consider the following
examples: Magnesia or MgO, is a
ceramic since it is a solid compound of a
metal bonded to the nonmetal O2. MgO

 Silica is also a ceramic since it


combines an NMES and a
nonmetal.
 Similarly, TiC and ZrB2 are ceramics since they combine metals (Ti,Zr)
and the NMES (C,B).

TiC ZrB2
 SiC is a ceramic because it combines
two NMESs.

 Also note ceramics are not limited to binary compounds: BaTiO3,

YBa2Cu3O3, and Ti3SiC2 are all perfectly respectable class members.


 It follows that the oxides, nitrides, borides, carbides, and silicides (not
to be confused with silicates) of all metals and NMESs are ceramics;
which, needless to say, leads to a vast number of compounds.
 Because of the abundance of oxygen and silicon in nature, silicates
are ubiquitous; rocks, dust, clay, mud, mountains, sand — in short,
the vast majority of the earth's crust — are composed of silicate
based minerals.
 When it is also appreciated that even cement, bricks, and concrete
are essentially silicates, the case could be made that we live in a
ceramic world.
Crystalline Versus Amorphous Solids

 The arrangement of atoms in solids, in general,


and ceramics, in particular, will exhibit long-
range order, only short-range order, or a
combination of both.
 Solids that exhibit long-range order are referred
to as crystalline solids, while those in which
that periodicity is lacking are known as
amorphous, glassy, or non-crystalline solids.
 The difference between the two is best illustrated schematically, as
shown in the Fig below.
 From the figure it is obvious that a solid possesses long-range order
when the atoms repeat with a periodicity that is much greater than the
bond lengths. Most metals and ceramics, with the exception of glasses
and glass-ceramics are crystalline.

Fig. (a) Long-range order; (b) short-range order.


Ceramic Microstructures

 Crystalline solids exist as either single crystals or


polycrystalline solids. A single crystal is a solid in which the
periodic and repeated arrangement of atoms is perfect and
extends throughout the entirety of the specimen without
interruption.
 A polycrystalline solid, Fig., is comprised of a collection of
many single crystals, termed grains, separated from one
another by areas of disorder known as grain boundaries .
Fig.(a) Schematic of a polycrystalline sample. A polycrystal is made up of
many grains separated from one another by regions of disorder known as
grain boundaries. (b) typical microstructure as seen through an optical
microscope.

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