Anti-crack machining of PZT ceramics for fabricating piezocomposites by using gelcasting technique

The high hardness and fragility of the PZT ceramics make it difficult for mechanical processing, especially in the processing of fine-scale composites. The present article applies gelcasting technique to the fabrication of ceramic frameworks for piezoelectric composites. Because of the excellent mechanical property of the gelcast green body, a green body dicing and later sintering way will successfully prevent the cracks inherently associated with the conventional ceramics dicing way. Homogeneous ceramic frameworks can be successfully fabricated by this novel method. The high density and strong piezoelectric effect of the gelcast sample also make it an especially suitable way for forming piezoelectric materials and piezocomposites.