Why do your ceramic pieces keep chipping? How to prevent...

2026-05-16

When many customers come into contact with precision ceramics for the first time, they will have a misunderstanding: "Isn't ceramics very hard? Why are there chippings?" Especially during the processing and use of ceramic sheets such as alumina, zirconia, and silicon nitride, edge chips, corner pieces, and local fragmentation are actually very common problems in the industry. But the key to the problem is not that "ceramics are of poor quality", but that many people ignore the characteristics of the ceramic material itself, as well as the details in processing, design, and assembly.

Let’s talk today: Why do your ceramic pieces always chip?

1. Ceramics are “hard” but do not mean “impact resistant”

This is the most misunderstood point. The biggest features of ceramics are:

• High hardness • Strong wear resistance • Corrosion resistance • High temperature resistance

But at the same time, it also has a typical feature: high brittleness. The simple understanding is that it is very Resistance to "wear" , but not necessarily Resist "collision" . For example:

• Metal may deform under stress

• Ceramics are more likely to crack directly after being stressed

In particular, the edge of the ceramic sheet itself is the area where stress is most concentrated. Once subjected to collision, pinching, or instantaneous impact, it is easy to Cracking starting from the corners .

2. 90% of chipping occurs during the processing and handling stages

Many people think that chipping is caused by use. In fact, most of the chipping of ceramic sheets occurs before leaving the factory. Especially concentrated on the following aspects:

1. Grinding stress is too large. If the feed rate is too large, the grinding wheel does not match, the cooling is insufficient, and the tool path is unreasonable, it will form on the edge. Microcracks .这些裂纹肉眼可能看不见，但后续轻轻一碰就会掉角。

2. The edges are too sharp and many drawings like them. Right angles, sharp edges, zero chamfer .但对于陶瓷来说，尖角就是危险源。尖角越锐，应力越集中。这也是为什么专业陶瓷件通常都会倒角、倒圆、去锐边。

3. Transportation and collision When two pieces of ceramic collide with each other, the stress at the contact point will be very high. Especially for flake products, if during transportation Irregular stacking and no buffer isolation , may cause edge cracking.

3. Unreasonable structural design can also lead to long-term corner collapse.

Some ceramic pieces are fine at first, but slowly begin to crack after installation. It's usually not a matter of materials, but of structure. For example:

• Local stress concentration

• Locking screw is too tight

• Thermal expansion mismatch

• Metal hardtop ceramic

These will lead to long-term accumulation of stress at the corners of the ceramic, eventually forming cracks and chipping.

4. How to reduce chipping of ceramic sheets?

A truly professional solution usually does not rely solely on "replacing more expensive materials". It is about overall optimization from materials, processing, structure, assembly and packaging. Common improvement methods:

• Add chamfer

• Optimize edge processing technology

• Avoid hard contact

• Add buffer structure

• Improve packaging and shipping

5. Conclusion

Corner chipping of ceramic pieces is never a single problem. What’s involved behind it is:

• Material properties

• Processing technology

• Structural design

• Usage environment

• Packaging and transportation

Many times, the problem is not that ceramics are “not hard enough,” but that the entire solution does not truly understand “ceramics.” The most important thing about precision ceramics is never how high the parameters are, but long-term stable operation under real working conditions.

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