Ceramic Cutting Tools

Ceramic Cutting Techniques

Some of the challenges facing ceramic manufacturers and suppliers include the problems of ceramics being notoriously sensitive to brittle fracture and expensive to fabricate. Ceramic materials must undergo special processing techniques in order to control particle size, purity, particle distribution, and heterogeneous state. These characteristics play a major role in the finish of the ceramic. Due to the high cost of ceramic fabrication, a proper cutting technique must be established to ensure that the finished ceramic is processed with little or no damage and to a high degree of accuracy.

Ceramic Manufacturing

Ceramics are typically produced by the application of heat upon processed clays and other natural raw materials to form a rigid product. Some ceramic products including dinnerware and tiles then undergo a glazing process and some advanced applications require further machining or polishing to match specific design criteria. Challenges that ceramic manufacturers face include raw material availability, labour costs, quality control, and environmental, health and safety criteria.

Ceramic Applications

Ceramic industries are varied and include the following classifications:

Structural clay products such as Roofing tile, Brick, Floor and Wall tiles
Cements, used to produce concrete for roads and buildings
Refractory, used in the metal and chemical industries
Advanced Ceramics for Electrical, Chemical, and Industrial applications
Abrasives, used for cutting, polishing, or grinding materials

Materials such as floor, wall and roofing tiles, brick, and cement are all ceramic products. Brick is used in construction due to its durability and aesthetic properties. Ceramics are critical to consumer electronic products such as computers, mobile phones, and televisions due to the wide range of electrical properties. Advanced ceramic components can be used in automotive engines due to the light weight, high temperature and wear resistant properties resulting in an increased efficiency of combustion and considerable fuel savings.

Cutting Ceramics

Before considering each of the available cutting processes, the most essential requirements for the application demands must be established.

Machinery investment capital
Maintenance and Running expenses
Employee Training
Specific Ceramic application requirements
Cutting Process Speed
Required Accuracy and Tolerances
Secondary finishing practices
Manual or Automated Systems
Environmental issues such as waste or pollution
Cutting Equipment Size

With the respective labour and expense issues involved in ceramic cutting and manufacturing, many ceramics companies are discovering the many advantages of waterjet cutting tools. Low production costs coupled with a high versatility help water jet cutting eliminate the common difficulties facing dynamic business environments.