CERAMICS

16th century ceramic tile work on Dome of

the Rock, Jerusalem

SiC used for inner plates of ballistic vests Ceramic Materials in Gas Turbine Engines
 CERAMICS
• Ceramics are inorganic & nonmetallic materials. Ceramics are
generally known as ‘Clay products’
• Most ceramics are compounds between metallic and nonmetallic
elements for which interatomic bonds are either totally ionic, or
predominantly ionic but having some covalent character.
• Degree of ionic character is dependent on electro-negativities of the
atoms. For predominantly ionic bonding, metallic cations are positively
charged and nonmetallic ions have negative charges. Crystal structure
is determined by the charge magnitude on each ion and the radius of
each type of ion.
• Term ceramic comes from Greek word ‘keramikos’, means “burnt
stuff,” indicating that desirable properties of these materials are
achieved through a high-temperature heat treatment.
• “Traditional Ceramics” have clay as primary raw material; products
china porcelain, bricks, tiles, etc.
• Glasses and high-temperature ceramics are special ceremics.
 CERAMICS
• Modern development and understanding has changed the
fundamental understanding of ceramics.
• New generation of ceramics has evolved and found place in
hi-tech applications in electronic, computer, communication,
aerospace, etc. For example:
 Surface protection of space shuttle orbiter, exposed to 1450 ºC
 Gas turbine engine blades
 Ceramic Coating to reduce wear, prevent corrosion, or to provide a
thermal barrier in aerospace high temperature applications
 Bearing that are light, rigid, hard & resists high temperatures
 High speed-wear resistant cutting / machining tools
 High performance machine parts, rings, piston, seals, gaskets, etc
 Electrical insulator to be used at high temperatures
 Transparent baking dish
 Refractory lining for furnaces, nuclear reactors, etc
 Characteristics of Ceramics
• Low density compared to metals
• High melting point or decomposition temperature
• High hardness and very brittle
• High elastic modulus and moderate strength
• High electrical resistivity
• High temperature wear resistance
• Highly Thermal Shock resistant
• High corrosion resistance
• Low thermal conductivity
• Low toughness
• Highly brittle
• In crystalline ceramics, crack propagation is usually transgranular
and along specific crystallographic planes (cleavage)

Main drawback : high brittleness / low toughness

 Imperfections in Ceramics
• Atomic point defects, interstitials and vacancies are possible.
• Electrical charges are associated with atomic point defects in ceramic
materials, defects sometimes occur in pairs (e.g., Frenkel and Schottky) in
order to maintain charge neutrality.
• Stoichiometric ceramic is one in which the ratio of cations to anions is exactly
the same as predicted by the chemical formula.
• Nonstoichiometric materials are possible in cases where one of the ions may
exist in more than one ionic state—e.g., Fe(1x)O for Fe2 and Fe3.
• Addition of impurity atoms may result in the formation of substitutional or
interstitial solid solutions. For substitutional, an impurity atom will substitute for
that host atom to which it is most similar in an electrical sense

Figure 12.20 Schematic representations of cation Figure 12.21 Schematic diagram showing Frenkel and
and anion vacancies and a cation interstitial. Schottky defects in ionic solids.
 Classification of Ceramics
• Ceramics are classified in many ways due to divergence
in composition, properties and applications.

Based on composition Based on specific applications

• Oxides • Clay products
• Carbides • Refractories
• Nitrides • Abrasives
• Sulfides • Cements
• Fluorides • Glasses
• etc. • Advanced ceramics

Based on engineering applications:

• Traditional ceramics – most made-up of clay, silica and feldspar
• Engineering ceramics– consist of highly purified Aluminum Oxide
(Al2O3), Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Silicon Nitride (Si3N4)
 Special Ceramics and its Properties
Alumina is the most widely used oxide ceramics. Mullite is a ceramic made by mixing
Alumina with other oxides like Silica. Characteristics of Mullite are:
• High hardness
• Moderate strength
• Withstands high temperature
• Good electrical and thermal insulator
Application: As refractory material for high temperature, spark plug insulators, centrifuge
linings, thermal barrier coatings, plain bearings etc.

Characteristics of Zirconia
• Comparative high toughness
• Good resistance to thermal shock
• Resistance to wear
• Resistance to corrosion
• Low thermal conductivity
• High hardness
Applications: Zirconia beads are used in grinding ball-mills, Used as sensors in automotive,
sensors and actuators (piezo-electric property)
 Special Ceramics and its Properties
Partially Stabilized Zirconia (PSZ) is Zirconia doped with oxides of calcium, yttrium or
magnesium. PSZ has all the advantageous mechanical characteristics of Zirconia and in
addition it has the following special characteristics:
• Coefficient of thermal expansion is 20% lower than that of cast iron
• Thermal conductivity is about 30% of that of other ceramics
Applications: Because of these special characteristics it is very suitable for heat engine
components, such as cylinder liners and valve bushings.

Carbides are: Tungsten carbide, Titanium carbide & Silicon carbide. Its characteristics are:
• Good resistance to wear
• Good resistance to thermal shock
• Withstand high temperatures
• Good resistance to corrosion
• Low coefficient of friction at high temperatures
Applications:
Tungsten carbide with cobalt as binder is used for cutting tools and dies
Silicon carbide is used for heat engine components; incl mechanical seal faces, bearings,
gas turbine rotors, hydraulic plungers and pistons
 Special Ceramics and its Properties
Nitrides are: Cubic Boron Nitride, Titanium Nitride & Silicon Nitride. Cubic boron nitride is
the hardest material next to diamond. Its properties are:

Applications:
Cubic Boron Nitride is used for cutting tools and as abrasive in grinding wheels.
Titanium Nitride is used as a coating material on cutting tools
Silicon Nitride is used for high temperature applications such as: automotive engine and
gas turbine components, engine valves, turbocharger rotors, bearings etc.
 Special Ceramics and its Properties
Graphite is a crystalline form of carbon having a layered structure. Its characteristics are:
• High electrical conductivity
• High thermal conductivity
• Highly anisotropic
• Withstands high temperatures
Applications:
• Carbon Nano tubes (discussed separately)
• Heating elements
• Brushes for motors
• High temperature fixtures
• Furnace parts
• Crucibles, etc

Diamond is the hardest substance. It is a brittle material which decomposes at 700oC.

Applications:
• Abrasive machining
• Crystal cutting
• Grinding
• Coating in cutting tools and dies
• Dies for drawing wires
 Special Ceramics and its Properties
• Glass is amorphous solid with a structure of liquid
• Super cooled i.e. cooled at high rate to allow formation of crystals
• Made up of at least 50 % silica known as glass former
Commercial glasses are categorized by
 Soda-lime glass
 Lead-alkali glass
 Boro silicate glass
 Alumino silicate glass
 96 % - silica glass
 Fused silica glass
 Stress–Strain Behavior

Figure 12.33 Typical stress–strain

behavior to fracture for aluminum
oxide and glass.

Modulus of Elasticity of ceramic materials is between 70 to 500

GPa, higher than metals.
 Mechanisms of Plastic Deformation
• Plastic deformation of crystalline ceramics is a result of
dislocation motion; the brittleness of these materials is due to
limited number of operable slip systems.
• The mode of plastic deformation for non-crystalline ceremics is
by viscous flow; a material’s resistance to deformation is
expressed as viscosity.
• At room temperature, the viscosities of many non-crystalline
ceramics are extremely high.
 Misc Mechanical Considerations
Influence of Porosity
• Ceramic precursor material is in the form of a
powder. After compaction or forming of
powder particles into desired shape, pores or
void spaces exist among the particles.
• During ensuing heat treatment, pore
elimination process is incomplete and some
residual porosity will remain .
• Residual porosity has deleterious influence
on elastic properties and strength.
• For ceramic materials, Modulus of Elasticity
‘E’, Flexure Strength are related to volume
fraction porosity ‘P’ as:

Where E0 & σ0 are E and σfs of non-porous materials

 Misc Mechanical Considerations
Hardness
• The most desirable mechanical characteristic of ceramics is its hardness; the
hardest known materials belong to this group.
• Accurate hardness measurements are difficult to conduct as ceramic materials
are brittle and highly susceptible to cracking when indenters are forced into
their surfaces; extensive crack formation leads to inaccurate readings.
• Hardness of ceramics is measured by Vickers and Knoop techniques using
indenters having pyramidal shapes
 Misc Mechanical Considerations
Creep
• Ceramic materials experience creep deformation as a result of exposure to stresses
(usually compressive) at elevated temperatures.
• In general, the time–deformation creep behavior of ceramics is similar to that of
metals. However, creep occurs at higher temperatures in ceramics.

Brittle Fracture of Ceramics

• At room temperature, both crystalline and noncrystalline ceramics fracture before
any plastic deformation can occur in response to an applied tensile load.
• Measured fracture strengths of most ceramic materials are substantially lower
than predicted by theory from interatomic bonding forces due to presence of very
small and omnipresent flaws in the material that serve as stress raisers and no
mechanism such as plastic deformation exists to slow down or divert such cracks.
• Plane strain fracture toughness values for ceramic materials are smaller than for
metals; typically they are below 10 MPa m1/2
• For compressive stresses, there is no stress amplification associated with any
existent flaws. Therefore, brittle ceramics display much higher strengths in
compression than in tension (~ factor of 10), and they are generally utilized when
load conditions are compressive.
 Advanced Ceramics
• Carbon Nano tubes
• Ceramic ball bearings
• Micro electro-mechanical Systems (MEMS)
• Optical fibers
 Carbon Nanotube & Fullerene (C60)
• Recently discovered molecular form of
carbon has technologically promising
properties.
• Its structure consists of a single sheet
of graphite, rolled into a tube, both
ends of which are capped with C60
fullerene hemispheres.
• Nano prefix denotes that tube
diameters are on the order of a
nanometer (i.e. 100 nm or less).
• Each nanotube is a single molecule
composed of millions of atoms; length
of molecule is much greater
(thousands of times) than its diameter.
• Nanotubes are extremely strong and stiff
and relatively ductile.
• For single-walled nanotubes, tensile
strength is 50 - 200 GPa, an order of
magnitude greater than carbon fibers; the
strongest known material.
• Elastic modulus values are on the order of
TPa, with fracture strains between 5 -20%.
• Nanotubes have relatively low densities.
• Carbon nanotube is termed the “ultimate
fiber” and is extremely promising as a
reinforcement in composite materials.
• Carbon nanotubes also have unique
electrical characteristics.
• Depending on orientation of hexagonal
units, nanotube may behave electrically as
metal or a semiconductor.
• Flat-panel TV and computer monitors
have been fabricated. Future applications
include diodes & transistors
 Ceramic ball bearings
• Bearing consists of balls and races that are in contact with and rub against one another
when in use. Traditionally bearing components were made of bearing steels.
• Silicon Nitride (Si3N4) balls have begun replacing steel balls in a number of applications,
because of superior properties.
• Density of Si3N4 is much less than steel (3.2 versus 7.8 g/cm3). Less weight results in
lower centrifugal loads, resulting in 20-40% higher speeds of rotating equipment.
• Modulus of Elasticity of Si3N4 is higher than bearing steels (320 GPa versus 200 GPa).
More rigid Si3N4 balls experience lower deformations, leads to reductions in noise and
vibration levels.
• Lifetimes for hybrid bearings are 3-5 times greater than steel bearings. Longer life is a
consequence of higher hardness of Si3N4 (75-80 HRC as compared to 58-64 HRC for
bearing steels) and Si3N4 superior compressive strength (3000 MPa versus 900 MPa),
which results in lower wear rates.
• Less heat is generated by using hybrid bearings, because coefficient of friction of Si3N4 is
~ 30% that of steel; leads to an increase in grease life. In addition, lower lubrication
levels are required than all-steel bearings.
• Ceramic materials are inherently more corrosion resistant than metals. Thus, Si3N4 balls
may be used in more corrosive environments and at higher operating temperatures.
• Ceramic bearings are not vulnerable to arcing damage because Si3N4 is an electrical
insulator (bearing steels are much more electrically conductive).
 Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems
• MEMS is a process technology used to create tiny integrated devices or systems that
combine mechanical and electrical components.
• MEMs consists of a multitude of mechanical devices that are integrated with large
numbers of electrical elements on a substrate of Silicon (IC), and can range in size from
a few micro-meters to milli-metres.
• These devices (or systems) have the ability to sense, control and actuate on the micro
scale, and generate effects on the macro scale.
• Mechanical components are micro sensors and micro actuators. Micro sensors collect
environmental information by measuring mechanical, thermal, chemical, optical,
and/or magnetic phenomena.
• Micro electronic components process this sensory input and subsequently provide
decisions that direct responses from the micro actuator devices—devices that perform
such responses as positioning, moving, pumping, regulating, and filtering.
• These actuating devices include beams, pits, gears, motors, and membranes, which are
of microscopic dimensions, on the order of microns in size.

MEMS silicon motor together with a legs of a spider mite standing on gears
strand of human hair from a micro-engine
 Optical Fibers
• Advanced ceramic material that is a critical component in our modern optical
communications systems is optical fiber.
• Optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or
plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair.
• Optical fibers are used to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber and find
wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where it permit transmission over
longer distances and at higher bandwidths (data rates) than wire cables.
• Fibers are used instead of metal wires because signals travel along them with
less loss. Additionally, fibers are immune to electromagnetic interference, a
problem from which metal wires suffer excessively.
• Fibers are also used for illumination and imaging. Specially designed fibers are
also used for a variety of other applications, including fiber optic
sensors and fiber lasers.
• Optical fiber is made of extremely high-purity silica, which must be free of even
minute levels of contaminants and other defects that absorb, scatter, and
attenuate a light beam.