Focus on structural ceramics

Structural ceramics must resist high mechanical stresses. Carbides (SiC, B₄C, etc.) and nitrides (Si₃N₄, BN, etc.) are commonly used in the aerospace, automotive and mechanical industries: ball bearings, seals, cutting tools, turbines, telescope mirrors, etc.

To overcome the natural brittleness of ceramics, the ceramicist had to develop specific architectures on the micro or macro scale.  Ceramic matrix composites or CMC, which contain silicon carbide fibres or carbon, have excellent mechanical properties that are resistant under extreme temperature conditions. Lamellar architecture or particulate reinforcement composites, such as ZTA (Zirconia Toughened Alumina), have considerably improved resistance to the propagation of cracks. New materials, such as MAX phases (e.g. Ti₃SiC₂), have original mechanical behaviour (high temperature plasticity, dissipating the energy of crack propagation).

The CTTC develops technology solutions tailored to your specifications and allows you to develop manufacturing processes or create prototypes through:

• A wide range of ceramic processes;
• High-temperature sintering equipment.