Application areas of ceramics
Hard ceramics are used in a wide variety of industrial sectors. Due to the possibility of variable base material composition, to individual shaping, and to a firing process adapted to the field of application, industrial ceramics can be used for many different purposes.
Thanks to optimum properties such as heat resistance, high insulating capacity, stability in abrasion and wear, high strength and hardness as well as relatively insensitive to temperature fluctuations, ceramics can be used in almost all areas of the electrical industry, in medical technology, in tool production and in the finishing of metal surfaces by coating them with ceramic powder.
Special ceramics
Special ceramics are mostly used in mechanical and plant engineering as well as in production technology – thanks to the absence of corrosion and to the special hardness of the ceramic material. Due to innovative industrial technologies, the components for high-performance machines and tools are constantly getting smaller and tinier. Ceramic elements require special processes for their finalization as they have already their final shape due to molding and firing.
Micro erosion
One possibility to shape these parts is micro erosion. As ceramic molded parts are difficult to machine with conventional cutting tools, this technology is very suitable. Micro-erosion machining is carried out using process-controlled machines – always with the option of producing a large batch with maximum precision at low cost after a prior setup. With micro-erosion technology, you are able to drill holes with pinpoint accuracy. It is also possible to make metals corrosion-resistant, more stable, and wear-free by coating them with ceramic powder by modifying the machining tool.
Wire eroding
This technical process is closely related to the erosion process, but it is not suitable for all special ceramics. Basically, it resembles the principle of a jigsaw. By drilling, and therefore with the help of the erosion technique, start and end points are set. The erosion tool is inserted into this holes and –according to prior programming – cuts out geometrical parts with the highest precision.
The finishing of ceramic molded parts is quite time-intensive, but it definitively pays off with a high-precise and accurate result