In-line inspection and control system to in-situ monitor an extrudate during extrusion. A light beam illuminates a line on the outside circumference of the extrudate skin recording the curvature. A master profile of the illuminated defect-free skin is recorded and compared to successive monitoring of the illuminated skin. Differences from the comparison indicate skin and/or shape defects. A real-time feedback to automatically adjust process control hardware reduces or eliminates the skin and shape defects based on the monitoring and comparison.

A die body apparatus (101) includes a first discharge member (105) configured to be bonded with respect to a base member (103) such that aligned elongated openings (209) of the base member (103) and first discharge member (105) provide a plurality of elongated feed passages placing a plurality of feed holes (106) of the base member (103) in fluid communication with a first honeycomb network of discharge slots (415) of the first discharge member (105). In further examples, methods of assembling a die body apparatus (101) includes the step of bonding a selected discharge member (105) of at least one discharge member with respect to a base member (103). In further examples methods of extruding batch material into a honeycomb body includes the steps of bonding a selected discharge member (105) with respect to a base member (103) and extruding a quantity of batch material through the die body apparatus (101) into an extruded honeycomb body with a honeycomb network of channels.

A masking method for honeycomb formed body, including bonding a film on at least one bottom face of a honeycomb formed body in a quadrangular prism shape such that an adhesive surface is in contact with the bottom face. The step of bonding the film includes bonding of the film so as to have a bottom face covering portion that covers a whole surface of the bottom face and a pair of outer edge portions along one pair of opposite sides of a quadrangle defining an outer peripheral shape of the bottom face and a pair of protruding portions protruding from another pair of opposite sides of the quadrangle. At least a part of the adhesive surface of each of the pair of protruding portions is bonded so as to be in contact with a pair of opposing lateral faces of the honeycomb formed body.

A tool die for forming a green ceramic body. The tool die has a wear resistant coating that is deposited on a substrate and has an outer or free surface having a morphology that provides a mean roughness in a range from about 0.03 μm up to about 0.8 μm Rq. In one embodiment, the wear resistant coating has multiple alternating layers of fine grained and coarse grained materials. Methods of making the tool die and wear resistant coating are also provided.

A tool die for forming a green ceramic body. The tool die has a wear resistant coating that is deposited on a substrate and has an outer or free surface having a morphology that provides a mean roughness in a range from about 0.03 μm up to about 0.8 μm Rq. In one embodiment, the wear resistant coating has multiple alternating layers of fine grained and coarse grained materials. Methods of making the tool die and wear resistant coating are also provided.

A ceramic honeycomb structure having pluralities of flow paths partitioned by porous cell walls; (a) the cell walls having porosity of 50-60%; and (b) in a pore diameter distribution in the cell walls measured by mercury porosimetry, (i) pore diameters at cumulative pore volumes corresponding to particular percentages of the total pore volume being within specific ranges and having specific relationships; and (ii) the difference between a logarithm of the pore diameter at a cumulative pore volume corresponding to 20% of the total pore volume and a logarithm of the pore diameter at 80% being 0.39 or less, and its production method.

A ceramic honeycomb structure comprising large numbers of flow paths longitudinally formed by cell walls arranged in a lattice pattern in cross section, and an outer peripheral wall formed around the flow paths; in a cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, fan-shaped bulges projecting in a fan shape toward the flow paths from cell wall intersections at which the cell walls are crossing; the circumscribed circles of circular portions of the fan-shaped bulges at all cell wall intersections having a constant radius; and when the distance between the center point of the circumscribed circle and the center point of the cell wall intersection is defined as a center point distance S, a center point distance So in the outer peripheral portion of the ceramic honeycomb structure and a center point distance Sc in the center portion meeting Sc<So.

A ceramic formed body extrusion method for forming a ceramic formed body having a wall-shaped or plate-shaped formed portion by using an extrusion die provided with a slit for extrusion of a ceramic formed body from a raw material for forming, the slit including a slit former stage unit located on an upstream side in an extrusion direction in the extrusion and a slit latter stage unit located on a downstream side in the extrusion direction, the slit latter stage unit having a width of three to 27 times a width of the slit former stage unit, and by extruding a raw material containing a first particle having an aspect ratio of two or more and less than 300 such that the raw material passes though the slit former stage unit of the extrusion die and then passes through the slit latter stage unit.

A ceramic formed body extrusion method for forming a ceramic formed body having a wall-shaped or plate-shaped formed portion by using an extrusion die provided with a slit for extrusion of a ceramic formed body from a raw material for forming, the slit including a slit former stage unit located on an upstream side in an extrusion direction in the extrusion and a slit latter stage unit located on a downstream side in the extrusion direction, the slit latter stage unit having a width of three to 27 times a width of the slit former stage unit, and by extruding a raw material containing a first particle having an aspect ratio of two or more and less than 300 such that the raw material passes though the slit former stage unit of the extrusion die and then passes through the slit latter stage unit.

The method of predicting a formed body density includes: a correlation calculating step of obtaining the correlation between the formed body density of the formed body and the porosity of the fired body; and a formed body density predicting step including: in a case of preparing a kneaded material A from a ceramic raw material having substantially the same composition as a ceramic raw material used for preparing a kneaded material, preparing a formed body B by forming the kneaded material A, preparing a dried body C by drying the formed body B, and preparing a fired body D having a desired porosity by firing the dried body C, calculating a predicted value of the formed body density of the formed body B corresponding to the desired porosity of the fired body D using the correlation.