Current problems and future directions for ceramic machining

Monolithic ceramics, such as silicon nitride, silicon carbide, aluminum nitride, zirconia, and alumina; particulate- and whisker-reinforced ceramic-matrix composites; and ceramic coatings pose difficulties in machining. Because of the high hardness and low toughness of these materials, diamond grinding is often the method of choice in machining. One advantage of grinding is that machine tools are readily available for ceramic grinding at almost all machining and manufacturing companies, irrespective of their size.