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Industrial ceramics

■ Ceramic materials are unrivalled in the field of high temperatures, resistance to chemical aggression and synthetic bio-materials.

This survey intends to provide an update on these materials by analysing, in particular, the many current or potential industrial applications. The following different manufacturing and forming processes are reviewed: casting techniques, fritting, glass products, unformed products, electrocast or die-cast refractory products, as well as ceramic-ceramic or mixed composites and ceramic-metal bonds in their different forms. This survey presents the advantages, and also the limits, of industrial ceramics for uses as varied as heat exchangers, incinerators, filtration membranes, furnaces, engines, biomedical prostheses, cutting tools, wearing parts, etc.

The survey examines the industrial sectors particularly affected by the evolution of these materials. In the field of electronics, these materials are used for insulation, semi-conductors like thermistors and semi-conducting glass, piezoelectric components, capacitors, hard and soft ferrites, crystals for lasers, etc. The aeronautics and space sectors are also potential consumers of different composites. Cermets and sialons have many uses, especially in cutting tools; the market should develop strongly in the next ten years. Other sectors concerned are the iron and steel sector, the petrol industry, the biomedical sector and the sector linked to the manufacturing of certain consumer items (bikes, snow-shoes, skis, etc.).

In the second part, the survey lists the main research and industrial actors in the field. A comprehensive bibliography is also supplied.