June 8, 2007 -- A research group at Osaka University has developed a new kind of ceramic material that is easy to shape using metal cutting tools yet is as hard as normal ceramics that require diamond tools. The group hopes to have a practical version of the ceramic ready in a year that can be made into a variety of shapes, including auto engine parts like valves and cylinders, and the molds used to make glass lenses for eyeglasses and telescopes.

Hard ceramics take a long time to shape, and because of the risk of cracking and breaking need to be shaped using diamond cutting tools, which are over five times as expensive as regular metal cutting tools. The new ceramic is made by heating a powdered mixture of boric acid, silicon dioxide and carbon in the presence of nitrogen, yielding a material that consists of nanometer-sized flakes of boron nitride interspersed among grains of silicon carbide. The boron nitride is supple and can be easily drilled and cut.

Other easy-to-shape ceramics have been developed but their uses have been limited to applications such as crucibles because they have large micron-sized flakes of boron nitride, a rough surface texture and are only around 60% as strong as regular ceramics.

Source: Nikkei Report
Source: Factiva