Wide variety of porcelain products , chemical composition between them. Mineral composition , physical properties, and manufacturing methods, are often close to each other staggered, no clear boundaries , while there is a huge difference on the application . It is difficult to summarize a few rigid system , a detailed taxonomy Opinions vary , up to now there is no uniform international classification . There are two commonly used from a different point of view of classification:
( A ) by the use of different classification
1 . Ceramics for daily use : If tableware , tea sets, cylinder , altar , pots , jars, plates, dishes , bowls , etc.
2 . Ceramic Art } { craft : such as vases , sculptures , garden ceramics , utensils , furnishings and so on.
3 . Industrial ceramics : that used in various industrial ceramic products. Is divided into the following six areas:
① building a sanitary ceramics : like tiles, pipes , tiles, exterior wall tiles , sanitary clean it , etc. ;
② Chemical Chemical } { ceramics : acid-resistant containers for various chemical industries , pipelines, towers , pumps, valves and boring puzzle Fanyingguo acid brick, ash , etc. ;
③ porcelain : for the power industry insulators high voltage transmission lines . Motor casing, pillar insulation in low voltage electrical insulators and lighting , as well as
Telecommunications insulator , insulators and other radio ;
④ special ceramics : for a variety of cutting-edge science and technology of modern industry and special ceramics have high alumina quality porcelain, porcelain stone magnesium , titanium, magnesium stone porcelain , zircon
Porcelain stone , porcelain mass of lithium , and a magnetic ceramic , cermet and the like.
 


( B) the materials used and the level of classification of dense body can be divided into :
Stoneware (brickware or terra-cotta), fine pottery (potttery), stoneware (stone Ware), semi- porcelain (semivitreous china), as well as porcelain (130relain), the raw material is from coarse to fine, porous body from the thick pine gradually reach a dense , sintered , from a low firing temperature is gradually becoming high .
Stoneware is the lowest level of the most primitive pottery , usually in a fusible clay manufacturing . Clinker or sand can also be added in some cases mixed with clay in order to reduce shrinkage . These products firing temperature changes a lot , to be based on the nature of the chemical composition of clay and contained many impurities may be. In the manufacture of brick, such as porosity is too high, the body is not good frost resistance , low fork easily caught mortar, so to keep the water absorption is generally between 5 and 15 %. Color after firing blanks , decided coloring oxide content and firing atmosphere , firing mostly in yellow or red clay in the oxidizing flame , burning the mostly blue or black in the reduction flame .
China's building materials of brick , that is, containing Fe2O3 yellow or red clay as raw materials in close only fire when fired by reducing flame , so Fe203 restore FeON into cyan, pottery can be divided into two types of common pottery and fine pottery . Ordinary earthenware pots pottery refers . Pots, jars , urns . And bricks and other porous green body coloring products . Water absorption fine pottery body is still 4 to 12 %, so there is permeability, no translucency, generally white , but also colored. Glazed leaded and use more boron fusible glaze. It compares with stoneware , less flux due to the amount of the universe , the firing temperature does not exceed 1300 ℃, so the increase is not fully sintered body ; compared with porcelain, lower raw material requirements , greater plasticity blank firing temperature higher than low . Not easily deformed , which can simplify the products forming, loading mortar and other processes. However, the mechanical strength and impact strength than fine porcelain pottery . Stoneware is smaller than that of the same article it is glaze softer glaze , the glaze layer when it is damaged , a porous body that is easily stained , and the impact on health .
Fine pottery by different body composition , can be divided into : clay , limestone , feldspar , clinker quality and other four. Close to ordinary fine pottery clay pottery. Calcareous limestone as a flux fine pottery , its manufacturing process and feldspathic fine pottery similar, but the quality is less than feldspathic fine pottery , consequent production in recent years has been very little , and replaced by feldspathic fine pottery . Feldspathic fine pottery fine pottery , also known as hard to feldspar as a flux . Pottery is the most perfect and most widely used one. Modern mass production in many countries for household utensils ( cups, disc I , etc.) and sanitary ware in lieu of the price of expensive porcelain. Hot material fine pottery is a certain amount of clinker in fine pottery blank , the aim is to reduce shrinkage and avoid waste. This billet used in large and thick tires multi- products ( such as bathtub , too washbasin etc.).
Stoneware in China's ancient books called " stone tire porcelain" , compact body , has been fully sintered , which is already very close to the porcelain. However, it is not vitrified , water absorption is still less than 2% , opaque body with white, while allowing the majority of the color rendering after burning , so that the raw material is less than the high purity requirements porcelain material easy to take . Stoneware with high strength and good thermal stability , it is adapted to modern mechanized washing and smoothly through the temperature from the refrigerator to the oven blast , in the international market due to the socialization of tourism development and diet , stoneware pottery than the boring has greater sales.
Semi- porcelain porcelain blank blank close , but there are still 3 to 5% water absorption after burning ( true porcelain , water absorption of 0.5 % or less ) , so it's performance is less than porcelain, will have to be better than fine pottery .
Porcelain is a ceramic higher stage of development . It is characterized by a body has been fully sintered , fully vitrified , so it is dense , liquids and gases are non- permeable , thin tires at Star translucent, shell-shaped section was to lick his tongue , smooth feel without being sticky live . Hard porcelain ceramics with the best performance. For the manufacture of advanced household utensils , porcelain, ceramic, and other chemicals .
Soft porcelain (soft porcelain) flux more low firing temperature , and therefore less rigid ceramic mechanical strength , thermal stability is low, but its high transparency, full of decorative , so much for the manufacture of porcelain art furnishings . As porcelain frit (Fritted porcelain) and ashes magnetic (bone china), and the firing temperature thereof is similar soft porcelain , with their advantages and disadvantages are similar soft porcelain , should belong to the scope of the soft porcelain . These two types of porcelain production in difficulty due to the larger ( body plasticity and dry strength are poor, severe deformation during firing ) , high cost of production is not widespread . Britain is famous for producing bone china , China's Tangshan there are ashes porcelain production .
With the rapid development of special ceramics are modern appliances, radios, aviation , atomic energy, metallurgy, machinery, chemical and other industries as well as computer , space technology, new energy development and other cutting-edge science and technology and develop. The main raw material is no longer used in ceramic clay , feldspar, quartz , and some blank Hugh also use some clay or feldspar , however, more is the use of pure oxides and raw materials , manufacturing processes and performance requirements with specific properties also varies .