I.

Drying
II.Firing
III.Sintering

And
Ziad !

A green body refers to a

ceramic compound, usually
clay or powder, after molding
and before it has been fired
or sintered, respectively.

 The evaporation of water

from a green product board.
Which in it the molecular of
water Mechanically bonded
This process is used to
protect ceramic from
cracking during firing
process
Method of drying :
1. Dehydration
2. Air drying

Dehydration
Dehydration start from 350
degrees C (662 degrees F)
Water in structure of clay which
is combined together will
dehydrated
This drying is completed by
about 500 degrees C (932
degrees F). After this point you
could no longer mix the dried
clay with water to make new
wet clay. An irreversible
chemical change has taken
place.

Air drying
this method of drying is used for clay
contain large amount of water 25%
When clay starts to dry, water evaporates
from it. As this happens, the particles of
clay are drawn closer together resulting in
shrinkage
Many problems with clay are formed by
uneven rates of drying, which create
stresses in the clay. Sometimes these
stress show up right away as cracks
Clays which have very fine particle sizes
will shrink more than clays with larger
particle sizes
When the water has evaporated form
between the clay particles, and all the
remaining clay particles are in contact,
drying shrinkage is complete

Flextural strength
the fracture strength of the
green body at the end of the
shrinkage phase.
And it depend on many
factors such as Drying
Temp , Raw Denisty and
Drying rate .

 It is a method of producing a
dry powder from a liquid or
slurry by rapidly drying with
a hot gas.
Applications
1. Pharmaceutical
2. Industrial
3. Food

 Microwaves Microwaves are

simply high frequency radio
waves generated by
magnetrons at 2450 MHz. At
this frequency the wavelength
is 12.24cms . This frequency is
controlled by international
agreement.
Advantage
1- High Speed
2- Save energy
3- reduces scrap

 Defects
1. Cracking :- Due to rapidly
Drying at high Temp ,
Bubbles of air.
2. lamination :- May happen
during this process this refer
to the forming of the
material .
3. Distortion :- Its a product
may have to supported by
special setters during the
process .

 Is the second part of heat

treatment process
Consists of heating the
articles to high
temperatures > 800C
Clay must be dry enough to
enter firing process
Leads to the strengthening
of the unsintered molded
article into their durable
shapes

 We start heating the dry clay to

remove some more water
At 500C the changes in it becomes
irreversible and it cant be recycled to
the workable state
Clay at this point becomes fragile and
crumbly
[clay]-OH + HO-[clay]
[clay]O-[clay] + H2O(g)
Hydrogen bonds are replaced by
shorter oxygen ones so the clay
shrinks a little bit
If we stop at 500c , linkages would be
strong enough to prevent recycling
but not enough to strengthen the
piece

 Crystal structure of kaolinite

is lost and amorphous
metakaolinite is formed
the pot is first fired to about
1000C to produce what is
known as 'biscuit ware
It is quite strong and
porous ; it readily absorbs
water and dries again very
easily

 Earthenware : is fired at temperature

from (1000-1150C)
Stoneware : is fired at temperature
higher than 1200C
Some chemical changes happen in a
temperature higher earthenware
temperature but happens in
stoneware temperature
1.

crosslinking of metakaolinite to give a threedimensional network with the elimination of

water

2. metakaolinite turns into mulite (3Al2O3.2SiO2)

which forms needle-like crystals
3.

feldspar melts into a glass

.That makes stoneware much more

stronger and heat resistant

 Glazing is covering the

article by a thin coating of
glass.
This can be for aesthetic or
for practical reasons or
usually both
Glazes are usually made of :
1. silicon dioxide
2. aluminium oxide
3. fluxes, generally alkali or
alkaline earth metal oxides
4. Transition metal oxides.

Its show time !

 Electric Kilns Often made out of

soft bricks, usually an oxidation
or neutral atmosphere, heated
by coils carrying electricity.
Gas Kilns propane or natural
gas, often used to achieve a
reduction atmosphere.
Wood Kilns most are larger
than electric and gas kilns,
heated by wood combustion.
Saggars
Raku

 firing must also be carefully

controlled, since the
decomposition and
combustion products are
gases which can cause
cracking.
The firing atmosphere is
particularly important in the
case of white articles.
Oxidizing atmosphere
Reducing atmosphere

 DUNTING Cracking in the clay which

often occurs from either heating or
cooling the kiln too quickly. Opening
the kiln too early should be avoided.
EXPLODING Happens during the early
stages of the firing and are often
caused by the water being removed
too fast.
PEELING The contraction of a glaze,
slip, engobe or underglaze during the
firing which can cause it to flake off.
PINHOLING Tiny holes in the fired
glaze surface. Can be caused by
incorrect firing, poor clay preparation
or improper glaze application.

Sintering process
Sintering is part of the firing
process used in the
manufacture of ceramic
objects
These objects are made
from substances such as
silica , lime , alumina , glass
etc

How it works
Mixing water,binder,
deflocculant, and unfired
ceramic powder to form aslurry
Spray-dryingthe slurry
Putting the spray dried powder
into a mold and pressing it to
form a green body (an
unsintered ceramic item)
Heating the green body at low
temperature to burn off the
binder
Sintering at a high temperature
to fuse the ceramic particles
together

Factors affect it
Temperature
time duration
green body density
pressure
impurities content
particle size

Types of sintering
There are two types of
sintering: with pressure (also
known ashot pressing), and
without pressure.
Pressurless sintering is
possible with graded metalceramic composites, with a
nanoparticle sintering aid
and bulk molding
technology.

THE END