Ultrasonic-vibration-assisted reflow machining of ceramic gels

This paper presents a novel ultrasonic-vibration-assisted machining method for ceramic gels (wet green bodies), aiming to overcome the limitations of conventional ceramic machining methods, which often causes defects such as chipping and cracking owing to the low strength of dried green bodies and the brittleness of pre-sintered and sintered ceramics. Additionally, they struggle to produce ceramics with special shapes, non-communicating slots and holes. The proposed method leverages the shear-stress-induced re-flow property of ceramic gel by applying high-frequency ultrasonic vibration in the vertical direction to selectively remove the undesired part of the ceramic gel. This approach enables precise, non-destructive processing for surface modification, slotting, and drilling, achieving feature size on the order of microns. Experimental results further demonstrate its effectiveness in bonding ceramic components. This method offers a promising alternative to conventional ceramic machining methods for advanced ceramic manufacturing.