Ceramics, advanced research needs

As technology advances, the need for improved performance from materials increases. There is also a continuing economic pressure to minimise costs, which will become increasingly difficult as resources become depleted. Thus, research is aiming at more efficient corrosion protection methods such as improved formulations for paints and corrosion inhibitors, improved metal alloys, better design, and the use of novel materials such as ceramics and plastics. 

J. J. Mecholsky Jr., Engineering Research Needs of Advanced Ceramics and Ceramic Matrix Composites, Bulletin of the American Ceramic Society, 68 (2) (1989), pp. 367—375. 

The need for high-performance materials during World War II helped accelerate ceramic science and engineering technologies. Development continued throughout the 1960 s and 1970 s, when new types of ceramics were created to facilitate advances in atomic energy, electronics, and space travel. This growth continues as new uses for ceramics are researched and developed. 

Chapter 1 showed that eeiamie, or rather ceramies, are varied and complex materials the study of the stmctural transformations and physicochemical reorganizations at all stages of their manufacture constitutes a vast field of research that is still vibrant and largely open, since many new ceramic products continue to be developed for the needs of the most advanced technology. But to trace the history of ceramics, we need to reiterate some basic concepts. 

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