Preparation, Microstructure Control And Mechanical Properties Of Nanocrystalline Ceramics

Advances in the field of ceramic sinter forging in conjunction with the availability of production quantity of low cost nanocrystalline powders in the past decade have allowed to consider an adaptation of the forming technique from a research operation to a viable commercial production tool. The sinter forging process exploits the ability of nanometer size ceramic grains to physically slide past each other when the material is submitted to mechanical constraint at high temperature resulting in dense, submicron grain size ceramic parts. In selected applications, this forming technique offers an attractive alternative to conventional ceramic processing.