Advanced Structural Ceramics

These developments point to new growth opportunities for structural ceramics, electronic ceramics, high-performance coatings and chemical/environmental ceramics during the years ahead. 

Structural ceramics are seeing a strong growth rate due to the increased demand for ceramic armor for personal protection and military vehicles. In 2004 alone, US companies such as Ceradyne, Cercom, Armor Holdings/Simula and ArmorWorks dehvered armor worth over US 200 million to the US military. With stUl more orders expected in the future, the Business Communications Co. (BCC) forecasts that the structural advanced ceramics market will double in size, from US 650 million in 2004 to US 1.3 billion by 2009, due largely to the continued boom in armor demand (see Table 6.4). 

The use of electronic ceramics is highly dependent on the health of the electronic component and electrical equipment industries, which accounted for a combined 52% of total demand in 2005. The largest outlets for advanced ceramics in the electrical equipment market are insulators and permanent magnets, which accounted for a combined 38% of total demand in 2005. Other advanced ceramic electrical equipment includes piezoelectric igniters, heating elements, heat-shielding components, connectors, and seals. All advanced ceramic use is included in this market, such as those instances where electrical equipment is utilized in the assembly of machinery and transportation equipment (Prokop, 2007). 

Demand for microwave dielectric ceramics used in telecommunications, as well as in cable communications using optical fibers, is increasing rapidly. Whereas, in the past microwave communications were used primarily for military purposes such as radar, weapon guidance systems and satellite communications, more recently microwaves have been utilized extensively in communications devices such as mobile radios and phones, and in satellite broadcasting (see Chapter 8). The market volumes for ceramic dielectric materials for chip capacitors and multilayer capacitors (MLCCs) were estimated in a study by Paumanok Publications Inc. (2006). 

While electronic ceramics continue to hold the largest share of the market at about 60% (see Table 6.4), structural ceramics are estimated to yield the fastest growth rate, with 15% annually between 2004 and 2009. The total value of the US advanced ceramic components market for 2004 is estimated to be US 9.5 billion, and this was expected to increase to US 13.9 billion by 2009, with an exceptional growth rate of 8%. These figures, as presented by Abraham (2005), tied in reasonably well with an earlier prediction by the Gorham Advanced Materials Institute (see also Abraham, 2000) which indicated that the world demand for advanced ceramics would increase beyond 7% annually to US 34 billion in 2004, of which electronic components would account for about 75%. These 

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Model particles can also be used to develop processing methods for the fabrication of advanced structural ceramics and composites of high strength (see, e.g., Vignette 1.5). 

G. D. Quinn and W. R. Braue, Fracture Mechanism Maps for Advanced Structural Ceramics, Part 2, Sintered Silicon Nitride, /. Mater. Sci., 25, 4377-4392 (1990). 

M. H. Rawlins, T. A. Nolan, D. P. Stinton, and R. A. Lowden, Interfacial Characterizations of Fiber Reinforced SiC Composites Exhibiting Brittle and Toughened Fracture Behavior, in Advanced Structural Ceramics, Materials Research Society Symposia Proceedings, Vol. 78, MRS, Pittsburgh, PA, 1987, p. 223. 

Fig. 1. Stress and temperature ranges of application for Zr02 (—), Si3N4 (-), and SiC (-) advanced structural ceramics. To convert MPa to psi,...

P. F. Becher, M. V. Swain, and S. Somiya, eds., Advanced Structural Ceramics, Materials Research Society Symp. Proc. Vol. 78, Materials Research Society, Pittsburgh, Pa., 1987. 

The industrial ceramics produced by conventional sintering of 8-phase Si3N4 powders synthesized by SHS (Petrovskii et al, 1981) can be used as high-temperature articles with attractive dielectric properties (tan6=4.4 10 at/= 10 Hz, and dielectric strength, Ea=9.2 kV/mm). Also, silicon nitride powders with a relatively high a-phase content ( 80%) have been used for the production of advanced structural ceramics with good mechanical properties ([Pg.109]

Rhodes W FI and Natansohn S 1989 Powders for advanced structural ceramics Am. Ceram. Soc. Bull. 68 1804-12... 

D. B. Marshall and J. E. Ritter, Jr, Reliability of advanced structural ceramics and ceramic matrix composites, Bull Am. Ceram. Soc, 66 (1987) 309-17. 

Interest in advanced structural ceramics has increased significantly in recent years because of their unique physical characteristics and significant improvements in their mechanical properties and reliability. 

The purpose of this task Is to organize, assist, and facilitate International research cooperation on the characterization of advanced structural ceramic materials. A major objective of this research is the evolution of measurement standards. This task, which Is managed In the United States by ORNL, now includes a formal lEA Annex agreement identified as Annex II between the United States, the Federal Republic of Germany,... 

Ceramic engineering has come a long vray from its humble beginnings in the 1800 s. Various government s encies, universities, businesses, and the general public have contributed to, or benefited from, the innovations made in advanced ceramics. The North American market for advanced structural ceramics was worth 2.7 million in 2007 and is... 

Figure 6.1 Performance-application diagram of four typical advanced structural ceramics zirconia silicon carbide silicon nitride and alumina. Owing to the dependency of the properties on processing...

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