What is Ceramic?
The ceramic is divided into three categories
One is composite aluminum-base ceramic with Al2O3 substrate added TiC,WC,SiC,TaC and ZrO2 etc composition by means of hot-pressing process. Its hardness reaches HRA93~95 ,T.R.S at 0.7~0.9GPa.Meanwhile a small amount of Co and Ni added in order to improve its toughness.
Another one is silicon nitride base ceramic that is a Si3N4+TiC+Co composite one ,its toughness is higher than Al2O3 base ceramic but hardness is equal.
The last one is composite silicon nitride + aluminum oxide ceramic with composition at Si3N4 77%,Al2O3 13% ,Y2O3 10%,meanwhile its hardness at HV1800 ,toughness at 1.2GPa.It is also call Sialon and used widely in processing high-temperature alloys and cast iron.
The performance of the ceramics in high temperature is better than tungsten carbide ,so it is suitable for high-speed cutting.The Al2O3 and Si3N4 base ceramic are capable for cutting harden steel,high-hardness cast iron and common cast iron.The Al2O3 base ceramic is available to cut unquenched steel ,but the Si3N4 base one is weared quickly at first when cut common steel.
