Materials and Methods for All-Ceramic Dental Restorations Using Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) Technologies-A Brief Review.

The materials used in dentistry for the fabrication of all-ceramic restorations have undergone great and rapid developments over the last two decades. Among the most common ceramic materials in dentistry are those based on zirconium and lithium disilicate. Due to the properties of these materials, they are in great demand in the field of dental restoration production. Thus, dental restorations that will use those materials are commonly machined in CAD/CAM systems, which offer the possibility of manufacturing all-ceramic dental restorations in a very short period of time. This article reviews the modern materials in the field of all-ceramic dental restorations, their manufacturing processes, as well as what determines which ceramic materials are used for the production of CAD/CAM blanks and their production technology.

Experimental and Statistical Analysis of the Effect of Heat Treatment on Surface Roughness and Mechanical Properties of Thin-Walled Samples Obtained by Selective Laser Melting from the Material AlSi10Mg.

Statistical analysis of mechanical properties of thin-walled samples (~500 microns) obtained by selective laser melting from AlSi10Mg material and subjected to heat treatment for 1 h at temperatures from 260 °C to 440 °C (step of aging temperature change 30 °C) has shown that the maximum strain hardening in the stretching diagram section from yield strength to tensile strength is achieved at the heat treatment temperature equal to 290 °C. At carrying out of correlation analysis, a statistically significant positive correlation between deformation corresponding to yield strength and the sum of heights of the largest protrusions and depths of the largest depressions of the surface roughness profile within the basic length of the sample (Rz) and the full height of the surface roughness profile (Rmax) was established. It was found that the reason for the correlation is the presence of cohesive states between the extreme values of the surface roughness profile that persist along the entire length of the specimen.

Display of WEDM Quality Indicators of Heat-Resistant Alloy Processing in Acoustic Emission Parameters.

The widespread nature of heat-resistant alloys is associated with the difficulties in their mechanical machining. It forces the use of the wire electrical discharge machining to be wider. The productivity, roughness, and dimensions of the modified layer of the machined surfaces are indicators of the machining quality. The search for new diagnostic parameters that can expand the information content of the operational monitoring/diagnostics of wire electrical discharge machining and accompany the currently used electrical parameters' data is an urgent research task. The article presents the studies of the relationship between the parameters of acoustic emission signals accompanying wire electrical discharge machining of heat-resistant alloys, process quality indicators, and characteristics of discharge pulses. The results are presented as mathematical expressions and graphs demonstrating the experimentally obtained dependencies. The research focuses on the formed white layer during wire electrical discharge machining. Pictures of thin cross-sections of the machined surfaces with traces of the modified layer are provided. The issues of crack formation in the modified layer and base materials are considered.

Advances in Electrical Discharge Machining of Insulating Ceramics.

There are two main ways of carrying out the electrical discharge machining of the insulating ceramics: changing the electrical and chemical properties of ceramics due to additives in producing composites/nanocomposites and changing the electrical and chemical properties in the interelectrode gap. This review summarizes and analyzes the current data on the machinability in water suspension and hydrocarbons depending on the electrical properties of the ceramic composites and assisting means such as coating and powder. There are provided the existing approaches and original methods for solving the global problem of the electrical discharge machining of insulating ceramics, suggesting further development of the existing methods since, up to now, the experimental research is non-systemic. The dependencies of the machinability on the electrical properties of conductive ceramic composites, the specific electrical resistance of the assisting coating, and the assisting powder's band gap and concentration for machining insulating ceramics are revealed. The higher the electrical conductivity, the higher the machinability of ceramic composites, and the lower the band gap, the higher the machinability for insulating ceramics. Two technological gaps were revealed in the powder's concentration that can be a particular case of logarithmic decrement of attenuation. The proposed approach suggests using assisting powder with the lower band gap.

Adsorption Ability of Graphene Aerogel and Reduced Graphene Aerogel toward 2,4-D Herbicide and Salicylic Acid.

Within this work, new aerogels based on graphene oxide are proposed to adsorb salicylic acid (SA) and herbicide 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) from aqueous media. Graphene oxide aerogel (GOA) and reduced graphene oxide aerogel (rGOA) were obtained by freeze-drying processes and then studied by Raman spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis. The influence of contact time and the concentration of the adsorbates were also assessed. It was found that equilibrium for high adsorption is reached in 150 min. In a single system, the pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order kinetic models, Intraparticle diffusion, and Elovich models were used to discuss the detail of the aerogel adsorbing pollutant. Moreover, the Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin adsorption models were applied to describe the equilibrium isotherms and calculate the isotherm constants.

Plasma Electrolytic Modification of Zirconium and Its Alloys: Brief Review.

The review focuses on the surface modification of Zr and its alloys, which is necessary to expand the applications of these kinds of materials. Data on the properties of pure zirconium and its alloys are presented. Since surface engineering and the operation of the above materials are in most cases associated with the formation of oxide coatings, information on the characteristics of ZrO2 is given. In addition, attention is paid to phasing in the zirconium-oxygen system. It is noted that the most effective method of surface engineering of Zr and its alloys is plasma electrolytic modification (PEM) technology. Specific examples and modes of modification are described, and the reached results are analyzed. The relevance, novelty and originality of the review are determined by the insufficient knowledge about a number of practical features concerning the formation of functional oxide coatings on Zr and some of its alloys by the technology of PEM. In particular, the information on the phase composition and possibilities of stabilization of the tetragonal and cubic modifications of ZrO2, the effects of the component composition of electrolyte solutions and electrolyte suspensions, and the specifics of the treatment of additive shaping and deformed materials are rather contradictory. This review aims to collect recent advances and provide insights into the trends in the modification of Zr and its alloys, promote the formulation of practical recommendations and assess the development prospects.

Adsorption Removal of Mo(VI) from an Aqueous Solution by Alumina with the Subsequent Regeneration of the Adsorbent.

Industrial wastewater is the main source of an excessive amount of molybdenum (Mo) in natural ecosystems. It is necessary to remove Mo from wastewater before it is discharged into the environment. Molybdate ion(VI) is the most common form of Mo in natural reservoirs and industrial wastewater. In this work, the sorption removal of Mo(VI) from an aqueous medium was evaluated using aluminum oxide. The influence of such factors as the pH of the solution and the temperature was evaluated. Three adsorption isotherms, namely, Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin, were used to describe the experimental results. It was found that the pseudo-first order kinetic model better fits the kinetic data of the adsorption process, and the maximum Mo(VI) adsorption capacity was 31 mg/g at 25 °C and pH 4. The thermodynamic parameters indicated that the process of Mo(VI) adsorption on Al2O3 was exothermic and spontaneous. It was shown that the adsorption of Mo strongly depends on pH. The most effective adsorption was observed at pH values below 7. Experiments on adsorbent regeneration showed that Mo(VI) can be effectively desorbed from the aluminum oxide surface into a phosphate solution in a wide range of pH values. After the desorption of Mo(VI) in a phosphate solution, alumina was found to be suitable for repeating the procedure at least five times.

Investigation of the Information Possibilities of the Parameters of Vibroacoustic Signals Accompanying the Processing of Materials by Concentrated Energy Flows.

Creating systems for monitoring technology processes based on concentrated energy flows is an urgent and challenging task for automated production. Similar processes accompany such processing technologies: intensive thermal energy transfer to the substance, heating, development of the melting and evaporation or sublimation, ionization, and expansion of the released substance. It is accompanied by structural and phase rearrangements, local changes in volumes, chemical reactions that cause perturbations of the elastic medium, and the propagation of longitudinal and transverse waves in a wide frequency range. Vibrational energy propagates through the machine's elastic system, making it possible to register vibrations on surfaces remotely. Vibration parameters can be used in monitoring systems to prevent negative phenomena during processing and to be a tool for understanding the processes' kinetics. In some cases, it is the only source of information about the progress in the processing zone.

Peculiarities of γ-Al2O3 Crystallization on the Surface of h-BN Particles.

The main goal of the present work was to synthesize a composite consisting of h-BN particles coated with a γ-Al2O3 nanolayer. A method was proposed for applying nanocrystalline γ-Al2O3 to h-BN particles using a sol-gel technique, which ensures the chemical homogeneity of the composite at the nano level. It has been determined that during crystallization on the h-BN surface, the proportion of spinel in alumina decreases from 40 wt.% in pure γ-Al2O3 to 30 wt.% as a result of the involvement of the B3+ ions from the surface nitride monolayers into the transition complex. For comparison, nano-alumina was synthesized from the same sol under the same conditions as the composite. The characterization of the obtained nanostructured powders was carried out using TEM and XRD. A mechanism is proposed for the formation of a nanostructured γ-Al2O3@h-BN composite during the interaction of Al-containing sol and h-BN suspension in aqueous organic media. The resulting composite is a promising model of powdered raw materials for the development of fine-grained ceramic materials for a wide range of applications.

The Influence of Surface Texturing of Ceramic and Superhard Cutting Tools on the Machining Process-A Review.

Machining is an indispensable manufacturing process for a wide range of engineering materials, such as metals, ceramics, and composite materials, in which the tool wear is a serious problem, which affects not only the costs and productivity but also the quality of the machined components. Thus, the modification of the cutting tool surface by application of textures on their surfaces is proposed as a very promising method for improving tool life. Surface texturing is a relatively new surface engineering technology, where microscale or nanoscale surface textures are generated on the cutting tool through a variety of techniques in order to improve tribological properties of cutting tool surfaces by reducing the coefficient of friction and increasing wear resistance. In this paper, the studies carried out to date on the texturing of ceramic and superhard cutting tools have been reviewed. Furthermore, the most common methods for creating textures on the surfaces of different materials have been summarized. Moreover, the parameters that are generally used in surface texturing, which should be indicated in all future studies of textured cutting tools in order to have a better understanding of its effects in the cutting process, are described. In addition, this paper proposes a way in which to classify the texture surfaces used in the cutting tools according to their geometric parameters. This paper highlights the effect of ceramic and superhard textured cutting tools in improving the machining performance of difficult-to-cut materials, such as coefficient of friction, tool wear, cutting forces, cutting temperature, and machined workpiece roughness. Finally, a conclusion of the analyzed papers is given.

Granulation of Silicon Nitride Powders by Spray Drying: A Review.

Spray drying is a widely used method of converting liquid material (aqueous or organic solutions, emulsions and suspensions) into a dry powder. Good flowability, narrow size distribution, and controllable morphology are inherent in powders produced by spray drying. This review considers the granulation factors that influence the final properties of the silicon nitride dried powders. The first group includes the types of atomizers, manifolds, and drying chamber configurations. The process parameters fall into the second group and include the following: inlet temperature, atomizing air flow, feed flow rate, drying gas flow rate, outlet temperature, and drying time. Finally, the last group, feedstock parameters, includes many factors such as feed surface tension, feed viscosity, solvent type, solid particle concentration, and additives. Given the large number of factors affecting morphology, particle size and moisture, optimizing the spray drying process is usually achieved by the "trial and error" approach. Nevertheless, some factors such as the effect of a solvent, dispersant, binder, and sintering additives considered in the literature that affect the Si3N4 granulation process were reviewed in the work. By summarizing the data available on silicon nitride powder production, the authors attempt to tackle the problem of its emerging demand in science and industry.

Processing and Characterization of Spark Plasma Sintered SiC-TiB2-TiC Powders.

SiC-TiB2-TiC composites with matrices consisting of semiconductor material (SiC), conductive materials (TiB2-TiC), or their combination were fabricated by spark plasma sintering (SPS) at 2000 °C in a vacuum under a pressure of 80 MPa for 3 min. The composition and microstructure of the obtained composites were studied by X-ray diffraction and a scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy-dispersive detector. The flexural strength, Vickers hardness, and fracture toughness of SPSed samples were determined. Based on the observations in this work, three variations of the sintering process were proposed with different matrix compositions. The dense (99.7%) 60SiC-25TiB2-15TiC vol.% sintered ceramic composites exhibited the highest strength and hardness values of the studied composites, as well as a fracture toughness of 6.2 MPa·m1/2.

The Role of the Activator Additives Introduction Method in the Cold Sintering Process of ZnO Ceramics: CSP/SPS Approach.

The great prospects for introducing the cold sintering process (CSP) into industry determine the importance of finding approaches to reduce the processing time and mechanical pressure required to obtain dense ceramics using CSP. The introducing zinc acetate into the initial ZnO powder of methods, such as impregnation, thermovapor autoclave treatment (TVT), and direct injection of an aqueous solution into a die followed by cold sintering process using a spark plasma sintering unit, was studied. The effect of the introduction methods on the density and grain size of sintered ceramics was analyzed using SEM, dynamic light scattering, IR spectroscopy, and XRD. The impregnation method provides sintered samples with high relative density (over 0.90) and significant grain growth when sintered at 250 °C with a high heating rate of 100 °C/min, under a uniaxial pressure of 80 MPa in a vacuum, and a short isothermic dwell time (5 min). The TVT and aqueous solution direct injection methods showed lower relative densities (0.87 and 0.76, respectively) of CSP ZnO samples. Finally, the development of ideas about the processes occurring in an aqueous medium with CSP and TVT, which are subject to mechanical pressure, is presented.

Elemental and Thermochemical Analyses of Materials after Electrical Discharge Machining in Water: Focus on Ni and Zn.

The mechanism of the material destruction under discharge pulses and material removal mechanism based on the thermochemical nature of the electrical erosion during electrical discharge machining of conductive materials were researched. The experiments were conducted for two structural materials used in the aerospace industry, namely austenite anticorrosion X10CrNiTi18-10 (12kH18N10T) steel and 2024 (D16) duralumin, machined by a brass tool of 0.25 mm in diameter in a deionized water medium. The optimized wire electrical discharge machining factors, measured discharge gaps (recommended offset is 170-175 µm and 195-199 µm, respectively), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for both types of materials are reported. Elemental analysis showed the presence of metallic Zn, CuO, iron oxides, chromium oxides, and 58.07% carbides (precipitation and normal atmospheric contamination) for steel and the presence of metallic Zn, CuO, ZnO, aluminum oxide, and 40.37% carbides (contamination) for duralumin. For the first time, calculating the thermochemistry parameters for reactions of Zn(OH)2, ZnO, and NiO formation was produced. The ability of Ni of chrome-nickel steel to interact with Zn of brass electrode was thermochemically proved. The standard enthalpy of the Ni5Zn21 intermetallic compound formation (erosion dust) ΔH0298 is -225.96 kJ/mol; the entropy of the crystalline phase Scint is 424.64 J/(mol·K).

Electrical discharge machining of ceramic nanocomposites: sublimation phenomena and adaptive control.

The productivity of electrical discharge machining (EDM) is relatively low owing to the natural laws of electrical erosion. Precise EDM demands uninterrupted control of the discharge gap and adjustment of process parameters. It is particularly critical for processing large workpieces with complex linear surfaces and for materials with threshold conductivities such as the new advanced ceramic nanocomposites Al2O3+TiC and Al2O3+SiCw+TiC(30-40%). In these cases, adequate flushing of erosion products is hampered by the geometry of the working space or by the small value of the required discharge gap, which does not exceed 2.2-2.5 µm. The methods of adaptive control in modern computer numerical control systems of EDM equipment based on measuring the electrical parameters in the working zone have been shown to be ineffective in the cases described above. This study aims to investigate the natural phenomena of material sublimation under discharge pulses for conductive ceramics and nanocomposites. The measured conductivities of the samples are higher than the percolation threshold. However, the question of machinability remains open owing to detected processing interruptions and poor quality of machined surfaces. New knowledge on EDM of conductive ceramics and nanocomposites can improve the final quality of the machined surfaces and productivity of the method by the introduction of advanced monitoring and control methods based on acoustic emissions. The manuscript presents an up-to-date overview and current state of the research on the subject area. The obtained morphology of the samples and discussion of the findings complete the experimental part of the study. The scientific basis for a new type of adaptive control system is provided. This can improve the effectiveness of parameter control for machining conductive ceramics and nanocomposites and contribute to an increase in the EDM performance for the most critical cases.