Advanced Technical Engineering Industrial Ceramics

Ceramic Materials Frequently Used:

Aluminum Oxide

Aluminum oxide is the workhorse of advanced technical ceramics. It has good mechanical and electrical properties, wear resistance and corrosion resistance. It has relatively poor thermal shock resistance. It is used as an electrical insulator for a number of electrical and electronic applications, including spark plug insulators and electronic substrates. It is also used in chemical, medical and wear application.

Zirconium Oxide

Zirconium oxide has the highest fracture toughness of any advanced technical ceramics. Its toughness, mechanical properties and corrosion resistance make it ideal for medical and selected wear applications. Its thermal expansion coefficient is ver colse to steel, making it an ideal plunger for use in a steel bore. Its properties are derived from a very precise phase composition. Some environmental conditions can make the materials unstable, causing it to lose its mechanical properties. Its relatively low hardness and high weight also limit its broad use in wear applications.

Silicon Carbide

Silicon carbide has outstanding wear and thermal shock resistance. It has good mechanical properties, especially at high temperatures. It is a semiconductor material with electrical resistivities in the 10^5 ohm-cm range. It can be processed to a very high purity. Silicon carbide is used extensively for mechanical seals because of its chemical and wear resistance.

Boron Carbide

Boron carbide is the hardest material after diamond, giving it outstanding wear resistance. Its mechanical properties, especially its fracture toughness, are low, limiting its application. However, it is used extensively for ballistic armor and blast nozzles. Boron carbide is also a neutron absorber, making it a primary choice for control rods and other nuclear applications.

Silicon Nitride

Silicon nitride has the best combination of mechanical, thermal and electrical properties of any advanced technical ceramic material. Its high strength and toughness make it the material of choice for automotive and bearing applications.

Some of the highly desirable properties of ceramics are:

- High Strength

- High Fracture Toughness

- High Hardness

- Excellent Wear Resistance

- Good Frictional Behaviour

- Anti-Static

- Non-Magnetic

- Low Thermal Conductivity

- Corrosion Resistance in acids and alkalis

- Excellent Surface Finish (0.006 µm Ra)

- Modulus of Elasticity similar to steel

- Thermal Expansion Coefficient similar to cast iron