Ceramics as a class of material, bonding and structure of ceramic materials; crystal structure and defects; variations within ceramics; defect structures; chronological developments, structure of silicates; polymorphic transformations, raw materials.
Non crystalline ceramics - structure, requirement for glass formation, Zachariasen rules, viscosity based transition points, devitrification; glass forming methods; important ceramic systems: one component system- silica; binary and ternary systems.
Thermal, optical, electrical, magnetic and mechanical properties of ceramic materials - emphasis on the effects of composition, crystal structure, processing, temperature and atmosphere on these properties - concept of toughened ceramics
Powder processing, pre-consolidation - shape forming processes; various types of sintering, process variations and problems. sol-gel processing, microwave processing, ceramic coatings, refractories: classification, properties and applications;
Introduction to specific ceramic materials - phase diagrams, processing, applications – silicate glasses and glass ceramics, cements, castables, superconductors, piezoelectrics, silicon carbide and nitride, sialons, cermets, bioceramics and bio-glass.
1. Kingery W. D., Bowen, H. K., Uhlhmen D. R., ‘Introduction to Ceramics’, 2nd Edition, John Wiley, 1976
2. Richerson D. W., ‘Modern Ceramic Engineering - Properties Processing and Use in Design, 3rd Edition, CRC Press, 2006
3. Chiang Y.M., Birnie D. P., Kingery W.D., Physical Ceramics: Principles for Ceramic Science and Engineering, John Wiley, 1997
4. Norton F. H., ‘ Elements of Ceramics’ 2nd Edition, Addison Wesley, 1974
5. Van Vlack L. H., ‘Physical Ceramics for Engineers’, Addison Wesley, 1964
