A method for producing a roof tile having a water barrier, wherein the water barrier is shaped onto a roof tile blank, which is supplied onto a lower mould, of a shaping unit, with a shaped piece and a shaping stamp that can move in relation to same. The shaped piece is placed on an upper side of a top end of the roof tile blank, and the shaping stamp is pressed against the top end of the roof tile blank, such that material of the roof tile blank is pressed into a shaping mould of the shaped piece. The roof tile blank is also arranged below the shaping unit and the shaping unit is vertically lowered onto the roof tile blank. The invention also relates to a roof tile produced according to this method having a water barrier shaped thereon.

An extrusion method and apparatus are described for producing ceramics, glass, glass-ceramics, or composites suitable for use as proppants. The method includes forming one or more green body materials, extruding the green body materials to form a green body extrudate, separating and shaping the green body extrudate into individual green bodies, and sintering the green bodies to form proppants. The apparatus includes a means for forming an intimate mixture of green body materials, means to produce a green body extrudate, means for separating and shaping the green body extrudate into individual green bodies, and means to sinter the green green bodies to form proppants.

Prosthetic knee implant or implant component is made with a magnesium oxide stabilized transformationally toughened zirconia.

Fired magnesium oxide stabilized transformation toughened zirconia ceramic can be for or of an implant or implant component of a one-piece unicompartmental knee spacer device; a multi-piece unicompartmental joint aligning device; a temporal mandibular joint cap implant; a vertebra cap; an ankle joint ensemble or component; a bridge, a tooth or teeth; a patellofemoral joint implant; a tibial tray for a knee joint replacement implant; an intermediary articulation plate for a tibial tray and liner for a knee joint replacement implant; or the intermediary articulation plate assembled in combination with the tibial tray.

The invention relates to a method for producing a fuel injection element having channels, as well as to a fuel injection element. A fuel injection element according to the invention has helically extending channels and is produced with use of an extrusion tool.

A ceramic body prosthetic implant or prosthetic implant component of a magnesium oxide stabilized transformation toughened zirconia (Mg-TTZ) ceramic can be made by providing a bisqued initial green body of ceramic by providing a powdered ceramic material, which substantially is a monoclinic zirconia having magnesium oxide for a stabilizer, and, without employing a binder additional to the powdered ceramic to do so, compressing the material in its powder form through a cold isostatic press operation to form a raw, pressed initial green body, and then heating the raw, pressed initial green body to a bisque stage to provide the bisqued initial green body. Then, the following further steps are carried out: without embedding the bisqued initial green body of ceramic in an embedding mass, machining the bisqued initial green body to provide a machined, bisqued green ceramic body such that the machined, bisqued green ceramic body has a shape, which is a precursor shape essentially analogous to, being of the same proportions as, the shape of, but larger than, the ceramic portion of a fired predetermined finished ceramic body prosthetic implant or prosthetic implant component; and then firing the machined, bisqued green ceramic body to provide a fired Mg-TTZ ceramic body product, which is the same size and shape or essentially the same size and shape as the ceramic portion of the fired predetermined finished ceramic body prosthetic implant or prosthetic implant component.

An extrudate transport apparatus comprises a free floating roller assembly, wherein the roller assembly controls a rotational pitch of a cylindrical green ceramic extrudate as the green ceramic extrudate moves longitudinally from a first location to a second location within the extrudate transport apparatus. The free floating roller assembly has a predetermined effective weight and comprises a contact roller having a deformable outer surface for frictionally contacting an outer surface of the green ceramic extrudate in motion adjacent thereto, while maintaining a constant contact force upon said green ceramic extrudate.

An extrudate transport apparatus comprises a free floating roller assembly, wherein the roller assembly controls a rotational pitch of a cylindrical green ceramic extrudate as the green ceramic extrudate moves longitudinally from a first location to a second location within the extrudate transport apparatus. The free floating roller assembly has a predetermined effective weight and comprises a contact roller having a deformable outer surface for frictionally contacting an outer surface of the green ceramic extrudate in motion adjacent thereto, while maintaining a constant contact force upon said green ceramic extrudate.

A method for manufacturing cladding elements for use in construction, including a composite cement-based structure, including an elastically deformable support element having a first surface, a second surface and a plurality of spacer elements having an elongated shape positioned between the first and second surface to realize a plurality of interconnected cavities. The method further provides preparing a substantially fluid and water-based cementitious composition and introducing the substantially fluid cementitious composition into the support element to obtain a composite structure in a deformable state. After this, part of the fluid cementitious composition is removed from the support element, to eliminate the excess fluid cementitious composition and position the deformable composite structure in a forming device. The method provides for maintaining the deformable composite structure in association with the forming device, until the consolidation thereof and that said support element is constituted by a three-dimensional elastically deformable fabric.