ABSTRACT
Ceramic materials are generally not pure. They contain impurities or additions that result in solid solution, noncrystalline phases, multiple crystalline phases, or mixed crystalline and noncrystalline phases. The nature and distribution of these phases have a strong influence on the properties of the ceramic material, as well as on the fabrication parameters necessary to produce the ceramic. Therefore, before we can progress to a discussion of properties or processing in later chapter, we need to explore ways to estimate the nature and distribution of phases. An understanding of equilibrium and nonequilibrium and phase equilibrium diagrams is a good starting point.
