Forming Processes for Ceramics and Glasses

Abstract

Ceramics have been used since earliest times, and many ceramic articles are produced today by methods that are basically the same as those used several thousand years ago. Clay materials are normally shaped from a moist soft plastic mass. For articles with rotational symmetry, the clay may be thrown, or moulded, on a potter’s wheel. Hand throwing in the age old manner is still used on a small scale, but for mass production the process is automated and the potter’s hands have been replaced by moulds and templates. Plastic clay may also be readily formed by extrusion, and this process is used for the forming of bricks, tiles and pipes.