This article provides crystallographic and engineering data for single oxide ceramics, zirconia, silicates, mullite, spinels, perovskites, borides, carbides, silicon carbide, boron carbide, tungsten carbide, silicon-nitride ceramics, diamond, and graphite. It includes data on crystal structure, density, mechanical properties, physical properties, electrical properties, thermal properties, and magnetic properties.

This article discusses the properties and uses of structural ceramics and the basic processing steps by which they are made. It describes raw material preparation, forming and fabrication, thermal processing, and finishing. It provides information on the composition, microstructure, and properties of aluminum oxides, aluminum titanate, silicon carbide, boron carbide, zirconia, silicon nitride, silicon-aluminum-oxynitride, and several ceramic composites. It also explains how these materials maintain their mechanical strength and dimensional tolerances at high temperatures and how some of their shortcomings are being addressed.

This article focuses on the production of particulate reinforcements that are used in discontinuously reinforced metal-matrix composite (DRMMC) materials systems, their physical and materials properties, and the particle shape and overall morphology. The most common DRMMC materials systems used for aerospace structural applications are silicon carbide and boron carbide particulate reinforcement in an aluminum alloy matrix. The article concludes with information on reinforcement chemistry for designing DRMMC materials systems.

Synthetic diamond and cubic boron nitride are among a class of superhard materials from the boron-carbon-nitrogen-silicon family of elements. This article focuses on the two materials, the forms in which they are produced, and their respective properties. Synthetic diamond and cubic boron nitride compounds are available in the form of grit and sintered polycrystalline blanks of various size, shape, and composition. The article explains how superabrasive grains made from these materials can be used in lapping, polishing, and grinding applications, and how diamond and boron nitride blanks can be mounted to suitable substrates to form ultrahard cutting edges and tools.

This article is a comprehensive collection of engineering property data in tabulated form for ceramics and glasses. Data are provided for physical and mechanical properties of ceramic materials and color of ceramics fired under oxidizing and reducing conditions. The article also lists the materials characterization techniques for ceramics and glasses.

This article presents the principles of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) with illustrations. It discusses the types of CVD processes, namely, thermal CVD, plasma CVD, laser CVD, closed-reactor CVD, chemical vapor infiltration, and metal-organic CVD. The article reviews the CVD reactions of materials related to hard, tribological, and high-temperature coatings and to free-standing structures. It concludes by reviewing the advantages, disadvantages, and applications of CVD.

For the reinforcement of metal-matrix composites, four general classes of materials are commercially available: oxide fibers based primarily on alumina and alumina silica systems, nonoxide systems based on silicon carbide, boron fibers, and carbon fibers. This article discusses the key aspects of aluminum oxide fibers, silicon carbide fibers, boron fibers, and carbon fibers. The commercial fibers for reinforcement of metal-matrix composites are presented in a table. A tabulation of the coating schemes for silicon carbide monofilament fibers is also provided.

Ceramic-metal composites, or cermets, combine the heat and wear resistance of ceramics with the formability of metals, filling an application niche that includes cutting tools, brake pads, heat shields, and turbine components. This article examines a wide range of cermets, including oxide cermets, carbide and carbonitride cermets, boride cermets, and other refractory types. It describes the powder metallurgy process by which cermets are produced, examining each step from powder preparation to post treatment. It discusses forming and compacting, injection molding, extrusion, rolling, pressing, slip casting, and sintering. It also discusses fundamental concepts such as chemical bonding, chemical composition, microstructure, and the development of physical and mechanical properties.

Metal-matrix composites (MMCs) are a class of materials with potential for a wide variety of structural and thermal applications. This article discusses the mechanical properties of MMCs, namely aluminum-matrix composites, titanium-matrix composites, magnesium-matrix composites, copper-matrix composites, superalloy-matrix composites, and intermetallic-matrix composites. It describes the processing methods of discontinuous aluminum MMCs which include casting processes, liquid-metal infiltration, spray deposition and powder metallurgy. The article provides useful information on aluminum MMC designation system and also describes the types of continuous fiber aluminum MMCs, including aluminum/boron MMC, aluminum/silicon carbide MMC, aluminum/graphite MMC, and aluminum/alumina MMC.

The ultrasonic machining (USM) process consists of two methods, namely, ultrasonic impact grinding and rotary USM. This article lists the major ultrasonic components that are similar to both rotary USM and ultrasonic impact grinding. It also provides schematic representations of the components used in rotary USM and ultrasonic impact grinding. The article describes the operations of the components of the rotary ultrasonic machine and ultrasonic impact grinding machine. It discusses the applications of the rotary ultrasonic machine: drilling, milling, and surface grinding. The article concludes with information on machining characteristics of ultrasonic impact grinding.

This article discusses the factors to be considered in selecting and evaluating machining tests for the purpose of evaluating cutting tool performance and workpiece machinability. It provides a brief description of cutting tool materials, such as high-speed steels, uncoated and coated carbides, cermets, ceramics, cubic boron nitride, and polycrystalline diamond. The article considers the matrices that represent the range of tests performed on candidate cutting tool materials: the workpiece matrix, the property matrix, and the operation matrix. Various machine tests used to evaluate cutting tools, including the impact test, turning test, and facing test, are described. The article lists the factors to be taken into consideration in measuring the machinability of a material. The article presents general recommendations for proper chip groove selection on carbide tools and concludes with information on machining economics.

The classes of tool materials for machining operations are high-speed tool steels, carbides, cermets, ceramics, polycrystalline cubic boron nitrides, and polycrystalline diamonds. This article discusses the expanding role of surface engineering in increasing the manufacturing productivity of carbide, cermet, and ceramic cutting tool materials used in machining operations. The useful life of cutting tools may be limited by a variety of wear processes, such as crater wear, flank wear or abrasive wear, builtup edge, depth-of-cut notching, and thermal cracks. The article provides information on the applicable methods for surface engineering of cutting tools, namely, chemical vapor deposited (CVD) coatings, physical vapor deposited coatings, plasma-assisted CVD coatings, diamond coatings, and ion implantation.