Despite the significant progress, which has been made in developing of ceramic materials desired for engineering applications, their mass production is still not on expected level. Among the key factors hindering higher exploitation of these materials the problems in processing were identified. The processing comprises powder production, mixing techniques, forming, and sintering. All of them are equally important and all of them can introduce defects into the material. Besides improvement in processing, the properties of ceramic materials can be considerably improved by the creation of composites. Composites formed at micro or macro level are able to form more flaw-tolerant material. Considerable research activities, working on above mentioned phenomena are in progress at industrial laboratories as well as other research centres. This volume presents the contributions to the Advanced Research Workshop "Engineering Ceramics '96" with 65 participants from 21 countries held on 12th - 15th May 1996 at Smolenice Castle, Slovakia, the conference site of Slovak Academy of Sciences. The book covers research activities on engineering ceramic materials and gives an overview with respect to recent developments.

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Preface. I: Advanced Powderless and Powder Processing. Developing Short-Range Repulsive Potentials for Aqueous Processing of Reliable Ceramics; F.F. Lange. Near-Net Shaping of Engineering Ceramics: Potentials and Prospects of Aqueous Injection Moulding (AIM); T. Kosmac. Non- Oxide Nanometer Powder Synthesised by CVD Method; D.L. Jiang, et al. Non-Oxide and Oxide Ceramics for Preceramic Polymers for Composite Components; G. Ziegler, et al. Colloidally Processed Alumina-Ceria Stabilized Zirconia Composites; V.V. Srdic, L. Radonjic. The Influence of Powder Characteristics on the Properties of Alumina Ceramics Shaped by Injection Moulding from Water Based Suspensions; Z.S. Rak, J. Czechowski. Synthesis, Properties and Processing of Nanosized Silicon-Carbonitride Powders; A. Neumann, et al. Comparative Hot-Pressing Study of Amorphous and Crystalline Silicon Nitride Powders; J. Szépvölgyi, I. Mohai. Engineering Ceramics for Polymers; W. Dressler, R. Riedel. Covalent Ceramics from Organosilicon Polymers; J. Bill. II: Engineering Ceramic Monoliths and Composites. In-Situ Toughening of Non Oxide Ceramics - Opportunities and Limits; M.J. Hoffmann, M. Nader. alpha-SiAlON and alpha-beta SiAlON Composites; Recent Research; T. Ekström. alpha-SiAlON Grains with High Aspect Ratio - Utopia or Reality? Z.J. Shen, et al. SiAlON/SiC Micro-Nano Composites; Z. Lencés, M. Haviar. Chemical Thermodynamics in Ceramics; K. Motzfeldt. Influence of Powder Treatment Methods on Sintering, Microstructure and Properties of Si3N4-Based Materials; A. Bellosi, et al. Crystallization Induced Sub-Grain Boundaries in Silicon Nitride; K. Rajan, P. Sajgalík. Phase Transformation During Hot-Pressing ofSi3N4-Al2O3 (P) Composite Materials; F.J. Oliveira, et al. Mechanical Properties of SiC Whisker/Si3N4 Composite Prepared by an In-Situ Method; S. Yamada, et al. Al2O3-NixAl Based Cermets Prepared by In-Situ Reactions; Z. Pánek. A Stress-Induced Phase Transformation of High Temperature Orthorhombic Phase of (R1-xLax)4Al2O9 (R=Gd,Ho); M. Shimada. III: Advancing in Mechanical, Thermal and Physical Properties through Processing. The R-Curve Response of Ceramics with Microscopic Reinforcements: Reinforcement and Additive Effects; P.F. Becher, et al. Ceramics with Non-Uniform Microstructures and Anisotropic Properties; K.J. Bowman, et al. Factors Influencing the Residual Stresses in Layered Silicon Nitride-Based Composites; P. Šajgalík, et al. New Post-Sintering Treatments for Improved High-Temperature Performance Si3N4-based Ceramics; D.P. Thompson. Edge Toughness of Brittle Materials; M. Hangl, et al. Long-Term Creep Damage Development in Self-Reinforced Silicon Nitride; F. Lofaj, et al. Evaluation of Creep Damage Development of Quasi-Plastic GPS Silicon Nitride by X-Ray CT; H. Usami, et al. Superplastic Forming of an &agr; Phase Rich Silicon Nitride; T. Rouxel, et al. Fractography, a Tool for the Failure Characterization of Engineering Ceramics; J. Dusza. Short Term Deformation and Relaxation Behaviour of Silicon Nitride Ceramics; P. Hvizdoš, J. Dusza. Indentation Fatigue of Some Si3N4 Based Ceramics; B. Ballóková, et al. Comparative Measurements of Mechanical Properties of &agr;