The Tape Casting Process

FIGURE 6.9 Schematic diagram of the tape-casting process for producing a ceramic green film. 

The tape casting process, which is utilized widely in the electronics industry, has been adopted by many MCFC developers. The tape casting process was originally introduced for matrix fabrication, because of its... 

Fig. 3.9. Schematic representation of the tape casting process (McColm Clark, 1988).

Next to tubes and fibers, tbin ceramic sheets are also a very interesting subject for the development of thermoplastic ceramic extrusion systems. It has been shown that it is feasible to produce ceramic sheets and films with thicknesses under 200 pm. Figure 8 shows a picture of a ceramic sheet made of silicon dioxide nanoparticles. This technique could, for example, be used for the fabrication of multilayer ceramic bodies (e.g. multilayer capacitors, structural laminates) which currently are produced using the tape casting process. Big advantages relative to this conventional process would be the recycleability of the thermoplastic feedstocks and the higher achievable powder loading. 

In addition to describing some of the methods used to apply thick ceramic films to a substrate, we also describe the tape casting process. Films produced by tape casting are not used as coatings but as self-supporting ceramic sheets (down to 25 pm thick) that are widely used in the production of thick-film circuits. 

Fig. 4.33 Schematic diagram of the tape casting process. Reproduced with permission from [115]. Copyright 2007, Springer Science + Business Media...

Figure 18.19 Schematic of the tape-casting process and the resuiting texture in the sintered ceramic for (a) 001-oriented, piateiet-shaped Bi4Ti30i2 tempiates, and (b) 001-oriented, needieshaped PbNbjOg tempiates. From Ref [89].

Fig. 1.2 The basic principle of the tape casting process as it exists in most modern factories.

The remainder of this book will describe in detail the materials selection process, materials processing and characterization prior to tape casting, the tape casting process and equipment, further tape... 

First definitive publication on the tape casting process R. E. 

In any materials fabrication process, the most important ingredient in batch formulation is the ceramic, metallic, or composite powder. After binder removal and final consolidation, the pow-der(s) are the only portion of the batch left, and they define the properties of the part produced. The other ingredients in the batch formulation, such as the solvent (s), plasticizers, binder, and surfactants, are there simply to facilitate the fabrication of the desired shape and the green (unfired) bulk density of the formed part. Essentially, the tape casting process is used to obtain and hold the powder particles in the desired configuration so that, after sintering, the final part has the desired size, shape, and properties. 

The generalized topics of particle size, particle size distribution, and particle shape have been covered in numerous books and articles.5 jn addition, particle size effects in ceramic processing have also been covered by several authors.In this section we will discuss the aspects of particle size, distribution, and shape as they relate directly to the tape casting process. 

Along with being a forgiving and functional deflocculant, MFO has other benefits to the tape casting process. These other benefits, which will be discussed in the "Organic Interactions section of this chapter, include carrier release. Type II plasticizer (lubricant), and lamination aid. 

The optimized slip is now ready to be moved to the casting equipment for forming the tape-cast product. The tape casting process is discussed in Chapter 4. 

The basic principles of the tape casting process are included in most of these machines whether they are laboratory casters or production-scale models. The major components needed for tape casting include a solid, level casting surface, a drying chamber with a built-in means for controlling the airflow over the drying tape, an adjustable speed carrier drive control with a constant speed regulation mechanism, an air heater to control the temperature of the filtered feed air to the... 

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