A porous, silicate, ceramic body, optionally with different colors, with a first density, can be sintered into a silicate, ceramic body with a second density, wherein the ratio of the first density to the second density is 2/5 to 98/100, and the three-point bending strength of the porous, silicate ceramic body with a first density, measured according to ISO 6872, is 25 to 180 MPa.

A ceramic composition is disclosed comprising an inorganic batch composition comprising a magnesia source, a silica source, an alumina source, a titania source, and at least one rare earth oxide wherein the rare earth oxide comprises a particle size distribution (D.sub.90) of less than 5 m and a median particle size (D.sub.50) of about 0.4 m. A ceramic article comprising a first crystalline phase comprised predominantly of a solid solution of aluminum titanate and magnesium dititanate, a second crystalline phase comprising cordierite, a third crystalline phase comprising mullite, and a rare earth oxide, and a method of making same are disclosed.

On a working platform of a stereolithography machine, is manufactured, by the technique of additive manufacturing, simultaneously but separately, from a same pasty photocurable ceramic composition: a green assembly made up of a support of the green piece and of the green piece on the support, the free surface of the latter imprinted by a first face of the green piece; and a green ceramic shaper whose free surface bears the imprint of a second face of the green piece opposed to the first face; in a kiln, is placed, on the green shaper thus obtained with its imprint turned upwards, the green assembly thus obtained with its green piece turned downwards in order for it to be received in the imprint of the shaper, and the green piece thus held between the shaper and the support is subjected to debinding and to sintering.

A composition is provided for forming a sodium-ion conducting electrolyte structure, comprising particles of a sodium-ion-conducting ceramic, combined with particles of at least one transition metal oxide, such as copper, titanium and niobium oxides, or iron oxide, or precursors for these oxides, so the metal oxides make up no more than 5% by weight of the weight of the particles. The sodium-ion-conducting ceramic may be of the types referred to as Nasicon, or ?-alumina. The metal oxides may constitute no more than 2% of the weight of the particles. The metal oxides act as a sintering aid, making it possible to achieve densification at a reduced sintering temperature, while having no significant detrimental effect on the electrical properties of the sintered ceramic. The invention also encompasses an electrode structure made by sintering this composition.

An inorganic fiber containing silica and magnesia as the major fiber components and which further includes intended addition of lithium oxide to improve the thermal stability of the fiber. The inorganic fiber exhibits good thermal performance at 1260? C. and greater, low linear shrinkage, retains mechanical integrity after exposure to the use temperature, and exhibits low biopersistence in physiological fluids. Also provided are thermal insulation product forms prepared from a plurality of the inorganic fibers, methods of preparing the inorganic fiber and of thermally insulating articles using thermal insulation prepared from a plurality of the inorganic fibers.

The present invention relates to a porous, silicate, ceramic body, possibly with different colors, with a first density, which can be sintered into a silicate, ceramic body with a second density, wherein the ratio of the first density to the second density is 2/5 to 98/100, and the three-point bending strength of the porous, silicate ceramic body with a first density, measured according to ISO 6872, amounts to 25 to 180 MPa.

The invention relates to multi-layer oxide ceramic bodies and in particular to presintered multi-layer oxide ceramic blanks and oxide ceramic green bodies suitable for dental applications. These bodies can be thermally densified by further sintering without distortion and are thus particularly suitable for the manufacture of dental restorations. The invention also relates to a process for the manufacture of such multi-layer oxide ceramic bodies as well as to a process for the manufacture of dental restorations using the multi-layer oxide ceramic bodies.

A dental block for producing a dental prosthesis comprises a green body including zirconia and having a chemical composition including increasing amounts of yttria through a thickness of the green body. The green body has a substantially consistent optical characteristic of chroma and translucency across the thickness, and is subsequently millable and sinterable to form the dental prosthesis with an optical characteristic of decreasing chroma, increasing translucency, and decreasing strength, in one direction through a thickness of the dental prosthesis.

The invention provides tooling (100) for acting during heat treatment to support a preform (110) of a three-dimensional part obtained by shaping a metal or ceramic powder, the preform presenting at least one bearing surface (112) on which it can rest and at least one suspended surface (111) that is suspended relative to the bearing surface, the tooling comprising a tray (120), and a plurality of blocks (130) arranged on the tray and each having at least one surface (130a) for supporting the preform, the blocks being suitable for moving relative to one another by sliding on the tray between a first position in which the blocks are spaced apart from one another and together define a first volume, and a second position in which the blocks together define a second volume that is smaller than the first volume. The invention also provides a method of heat treating a preform made of powder and using such tooling.

A method of manufacturing ceramic tape includes a step of directing a tape of partially-sintered ceramic into a furnace. The tape is partially-sintered such that grains of the ceramic are fused to one another yet the tape still includes at least 10% porosity by volume, where the porosity refers to volume of the tape unoccupied by the ceramic. The method further includes steps of conveying the tape through the furnace and further sintering the tape as the tape is conveyed through the furnace. The porosity of the tape decreases during the further sintering step.