Abstract
In a ceramic green body, some degree of nonuniformity in density always presents. These differences in green density will appear as nonuniform shrinkage after sintering takes place. For the complex ceramic bodies with various curves and angles, therefore, it is quite difficult to foresee the final dimensions precisely after sintering. This simulation study shows that, considering the sintering process as a thermal shrinkage phenomenon, the use of NASTRAN enables to predict the precise shape of a sintered body. Based on this result, 'the reverse engineering technique' has been developed that can unfold the exact dimensions of a green body to have the desired shape after sintering. This approach will provide a simple and useful tool for ceramic engineers to fabricate complicate bodies with tight dimensional tolerances.