ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the common methods for the fabrication of ceramics. The role of the fabrication process is to produce microstructures with the desired engineering properties. Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) technology has been attracting significant interest as a fabrication route for ceramic composites. The term reaction bonding is commonly used to describe fabrication routes where a porous solid preform reacts with a gas to produce the desired chemical compound and bonding between the grains. Fabrication routes in which a solution of metal compounds is converted into a solid body are sometimes referred to as liquid precursor methods. As a fabrication route for ceramics, the sol–gel process has a number of advantages. The melt casting method is therefore limited to the fabrication of glasses. In most cases, the fabrication process starts from a mass of powder obtained from commercial sources. Nevertheless, knowledge of powder synthesis methods is very important.
