Ceramics are advanced engineering materials in which have been broadly used in numerous industries due to their superior mechanical and physical properties. For application, the industries require that the ceramic products have high-quality surface finishes, high dimensional accuracy, and clean surfaces to prevent and minimize thermal contact, adhesion, friction, and wear. Ceramics have been classified as difficult-to-machine materials owing to their high hardness, and brittleness. Thus, it is extremely difficult to process them with conventional finishing processes. In this review, trends in the development of non-conventional finishing processes for the surface finishing of difficult-to-machine ceramics are discussed and compared to better comprehend the key finishing capabilities and limitations of each process on improvements in terms of surface roughness. In addition, the future direction of non-conventional finishing processes is introduced. This review will be helpful to many researchers and academicians for carrying out additional research related to the surface finishing techniques of ceramics for applications in various fields.
Keywords: advanced ceramics; artificial hip joint; difficult-to-machine ceramics; non-conventional finishing processes; surface roughness.