The Application of Computer Aided Design as Tool for Building User-Centered Design in Consumer Ceramics’ Product Development

Ceramics Overview

Ceramics is the art and science of making useful products for man from inorganic, non-metallic materials by the action of heat and subsequent cooling (CTIOA, 2011). It can also be defined as heat-resistant, non-metallic, inorganic solids that are generally made up of compounds from metallic and non-metallic elements. Although different types of ceramics can have very different properties, in general ceramics are corrosion-resistant and hard, but brittle. Most ceramics are also good insulators and can withstand high temperatures. These properties have led to their use in virtually every aspect of modern life.

The two main categories of ceramics are traditional and advanced ceramics. Traditional ceramics are produced from materials that are obtained from common, naturally occurring raw materials such as clay minerals and quartz sand (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2012). Traditional ceramics include objects made from clay and cements that have been hardened by heating at high temperatures. These include dishes, crockery, flowerpots and roof and wall tiles. Advanced ceramics includes carbides, oxides, nitrides and many other materials including the mixed oxide ceramics that can act as superconductors. Advanced ceramics requires modern processing techniques, and the development of these techniques has led to advances in medicines and engineering. Figure 1 and Figure 2 illustrate the difference and relationship between traditional and advance ceramics.

Figure 1.

Illustration of the differences between traditional and advanced ceramic

Figure 2.

Overlapping relationship between traditional and advanced ceramics