Ceramic manufacturing has evolved significantly since the days when humans crafted pottery from clay.

While the technology has advanced, the processes behind ceramic production have also progressed, resulting in modern materials used across a wide range of industries—from pottery and wall tiles to circuit boards and industrial ceramics.

This article explores the standard methods used in ceramic manufacturing today, including techniques such as sintering at high temperatures and slip casting, providing an overview of the modern ceramic production process.

What Are the Raw Materials of Ceramics?

Ceramics are inorganic, nonmetallic, hard, and brittle materials used to make various products. While traditional ceramics focused on earthenware, porcelain, and brick, modern manufacturing has expanded to include a wide range of both everyday and advanced ceramics.

Traditional ceramics still rely on clay minerals for products like porcelain, clay bricks, and stoneware. Advanced ceramics, however, use chemical compounds such as tungsten carbide and silicon carbide for specialized applications in industries like medicine, aerospace, electronics, and mining. Some advanced ceramics are even used as body armor.

What Equipment Is Necessary for Creating Ceramics?

Industrial ceramic production differs significantly from home pottery making. At the industrial scale, ceramics are produced with higher precision, fewer impurities, and on a larger scale to meet industry demands. To ensure the integrity of raw materials, they must be carefully sorted and stored. The materials are then combined to create compounds used in manufacturing various ceramic products. Common equipment used in ceramic manufacturing includes:

Storage containers

Milling machines

Industrial presses or casting machines

Drying stations

Glaze applicators

Sintering ovens

Inspection tables

Contemporary Ceramics Manufacturing

Modern ceramic manufacturing has advanced far beyond the traditional clay ovens and kilns used in early pottery production, though the fundamental principles remain. Today’s industrial ceramics are typically more refined, with higher precision, and are often made through molding and casting processes. Techniques like injection molding, slip casting, and dry pressing are common in the production of advanced ceramics.

Injection Molding

In injection molding, materials are heated into a molten form and then injected into a mold to produce the desired shape, much like the manufacturing process for plastics.

Slip Casting

Slip casting is used to create shapes that are difficult to form on a pottery wheel. A liquid clay mixture is poured into a plaster mold, where it hardens and takes shape. This method is known for producing highly accurate and consistent results.

Dry Pressing

Dry pressing is similar to powder metallurgy. In this process, loose, granulated ceramic powders are compressed inside a die or press, which molds them into shape. The pressed material is then heated to strengthen it.

The Stages of Ceramics Processing

Although the process can vary based on the shape and materials used, the ceramic manufacturing process typically follows a standard pattern, particularly in technical ceramics.

1. Milling

The first step is milling, where raw materials are prepared and refined. This stage removes any impurities and prepares the materials for easier mixing and forming.

2. Sizing, Batching, and Mixing

Sizing further refines the raw materials for their intended use. Batching involves mixing different raw materials into specific compounds, while mixing ensures a uniform, homogeneous composition in the final product.

3. Forming

Once the materials are sized, batched, and mixed, they are ready to be formed into the desired shape. This can be done through various methods, such as slip casting, injection molding, or dry pressing. In traditional ceramics, this is similar to the pottery wheel stage.

4. Glazing

After forming and drying, the ceramic pieces are glazed. The glaze applied to the ceramics determines their final appearance and properties. In modern ceramic manufacturing, glazing is typically done by spraying, especially in dried powder pressing, to enhance the physical properties of the final product.

5. Firing

Firing is the final stage in ceramic manufacturing. Formed and glazed greenware is placed into a sintering oven, where it is heated to high temperatures. This heat treatment densifies the material and hardens it into its final, durable form.

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Video by Florian Gadsby