Green bodies sintering

Tape casting is used to produce a green body which consists of a thin layer of a dried ceramic suspension. These green layers can be cut into a near-net shape and sintered to give a useful ceramic object. In addition, these thin ceramic layers can be layered to produce a multilayer structure like that of the multilayer capacitor shown in Figure... 

As a result, a picture of the microstructure is a valuable tool in diagnosing drying problems in green body manufacture and predicting problems during binder burnout and sintering. 

Sintering takes place in a kiln. There are many types of kilns for the different types of sintering used in industry. Two types of kiln are typical. One is the box kiln and the other is a tunnel kiln. The box kiln is simply an insulated box in which the ceramic green bodies are piled in their... 

Sometimes, a part of the ceramic material melts and provides a liquid phase during sintering. This liquid phase provides a medium for faster flow of material to fill the pores because the liquid can (1) act as a flux and dissolve the solid ceramic materials of the porous ceramic green body, (2) provide a pathway for fast diffiision compared to solid state diffusion, and (3) precipitate the final ceramic material in the pore thereby filling it. As a result sintering is a complex phenomena. 

---