Machining of ceramic components - process-technological potentials

In the production of ceramic components machining in the green state bears many advantages according to flexibility and economy. This holds true especially for small lot sizes when compared to forming processes like moulding and pressing. But unfortunately in the ceramic industry, in most cases, the process design in green machining is based only on experience. Therefore, approaches will be presented for an economic and quality consistent green machining process by applying the potentials of modern machine tools and cutting tools like PCD. The situation is different in the area of fine machining of ceramics where numerous approaches have been presented in recent years towards optimizing the machining processes, which are already applied in industry such as grinding and lapping. From these investigations, limits can be derived with respect to process performance and quality. Improvement of flexibility, economy and quality in fine machining is connected with the development of new cerami c machining technologies. Potentials will be illustrated for granding with increased cutting speed and for electro discharge machining of conductive ceramics.