What Are Advanced Technical Ceramics?

Advanced ceramics, also known as technical ceramics, engineering ceramics, or high-performance ceramics, are specialized inorganic materials designed for extreme operating conditions. They offer superior mechanical strength, thermal stability, wear resistance, and electrical insulation compared to traditional ceramics, making them indispensable in high-tech and industrial applications.

Why use advanced ceramics?

Due to their remarkable high-temperature capabilities, hardness and electrical properties, advanced technical ceramics are often used to replace metals, polymers and refractories. When used properly, ceramics can extend product life, increase efficiency, reduce overall maintenance costs and improve product performance.

Advantages of Advanced Ceramics

Advanced ceramics possess a unique combination of properties that provide clear advantages over metals and polymers in demanding technical applications:

Extreme Hardness & Wear Resistance – With hardness levels reaching over 2000 HV (e.g., silicon carbide), advanced ceramics are ideal for abrasive conditions such as cutting tools, pump components, and seals in slurry systems.
High-Temperature Stability – Ceramics like silicon nitride and silicon carbide retain strength beyond 1200°C, making them suitable for turbine blades, heat exchangers, or combustion engine parts.
Chemical Inertness – Alumina, SiC, and ZTA ceramics exhibit excellent resistance to acids, alkalis, and molten metals, which is why they’re used in semiconductor etching chambers and chemical pump housings.
Electrical Insulation – Materials like alumina and beryllia provide outstanding dielectric properties even at elevated temperatures. BeO, in particular, is used in high-power RF electronics where both electrical insulation and heat dissipation are critical.
Low Density – Lighter than metals, ceramics allow for weight reduction in aerospace and defense applications, without compromising structural performance.
Dimensional Stability – Ceramics exhibit low thermal expansion, allowing precise dimensional tolerances in optical alignment fixtures and measuring devices even under thermal stress.
Thermal Conductivity (Selective) – Aluminum nitride (AlN) and beryllium oxide (BeO) offer thermal conductivities close to or even exceeding some metals, making them irreplaceable in heat sink substrates and LED packaging.

In semiconductor equipment, AlN substrates are used to dissipate heat from power ICs while maintaining electrical insulation. Their unmatched thermal conductivity-to-insulation ratio allows device miniaturization and reliability.

Application Cases

Limitations of Advanced Ceramics

Despite their many strengths, technical ceramics also present certain limitations that must be considered:

Brittleness & Low Ductility – Ceramics tend to fail catastrophically under tensile stress due to their low fracture toughness. For example, while zirconia is tougher than alumina, it still cannot absorb impact loads like steel. This limits its use in dynamic, high-vibration environments unless carefully engineered.
Challenging Machinability – Most technical ceramics require diamond grinding after sintering, increasing cost and complexity. Materials like machinable glass ceramics (MGC) exist, but they trade off mechanical strength for ease of shaping. Once sintered, ceramics cannot be reworked or welded like metals.
Higher Upfront Cost – The total cost of ownership may be lower due to performance and longevity, but initial part pricing is typically higher compared to metal or plastic parts, especially for low-volume or complex geometries.
Design Constraints – Ceramics cannot be plastically deformed; complex internal features or undercuts are hard to achieve without green machining or 3D ceramic printing, which are not yet widespread.
Environmental Sensitivities – Some ceramics, such as AlN, are sensitive to hydrolysis in humid environments and require encapsulation or surface treatment.

In high-speed dental turbines, zirconia components offer strength and biocompatibility, but their brittleness necessitates precision design to prevent cracking under load. Engineers must account for stress concentrations and avoid sharp corners.

Application Cases

Ceramics vs. Metals vs. Plastics: Performance Comparison

Property	Advanced Ceramics	Metals (e.g., Steel, Al)	Plastics (e.g., PEEK, PTFE)
Hardness (HV)	1000 – 2500	100 – 700	10 – 30
Max Operating Temp (°C)	800 – 1800	200 – 1000	80 – 300
Electrical Resistivity (Ω·cm)	>10¹²	<10⁻⁵	>10¹⁵
Thermal Conductivity (W/m·K)	1.5 – 300	50 – 400	0.2 – 0.4
Corrosion Resistance	Excellent	Moderate to poor	Moderate
Machinability	Poor (after sintering)	Excellent	Excellent
Toughness (MPa·m½)	2 – 10	20 – 100	3 – 5
Density (g/cm³)	2.2 – 6.1	2.7 – 8.9	0.9 – 2.2

Summary: Ceramics outperform metals and plastics in harsh environments requiring hardness, heat resistance, insulation, or chemical stability. Metals remain ideal for ductile or load-bearing applications. Plastics offer ease of fabrication but lack temperature or wear tolerance.

Advanced Ceramic Materials Comparison

Great Ceramic is a reliable ceramics supplier offering a comprehensive range of materials, each with distinct characteristics:

Material	Density	Hardness	Flexural Strength	Fracture Toughness	Max Temp	Thermal Conductivity	Electrical Resistivity	Applications
Alumina (Al₂O₃)	3.7–3.9	1500–1800	300–500	3–4	~1600 °C	25–35 W/m·K	>10¹⁴ Ω·cm	Insulators, wear parts
Zirconia (ZrO₂)	5.6	1100–1300	800–1000	6–10	~1200 °C	2–3 W/m·K	~10¹³ Ω·cm	Dental, tools, bearings
Silicon Nitride (Si₃N₄)	3.2	1400–1700	700–950	6–8	~1400 °C	15–30 W/m·K	>10¹³ Ω·cm	Turbines, engine parts
Silicon Carbide (SiC)	3.1	2200–2500	400–600	3–4	1600–1800 °C	80–120 W/m·K	>10¹² Ω·cm	Seals, heat exchangers
Aluminum Nitride (AlN)	3.3	1100–1400	300–400	2.5–3.5	~1200 °C	170–200 W/m·K	>10¹³ Ω·cm	Electronics, LED bases
Machinable Glass Ceramic (MGC)	2.4	500–600	150–200	1.5–2	~800 °C	1.5–2 W/m·K	>10¹² Ω·cm	Prototypes, vacuum parts
ZTA	4.0–4.2	1400–1700	500–700	5–7	~1500 °C	18–25 W/m·K	>10¹³ Ω·cm	Cutting tools, implants
h-BN	2.2–2.3	~400	~100–150	~1	~900–1800 °C	30–60 W/m·K	~10¹² Ω·cm	Lubrication, thermal interface
Beryllia (BeO)	2.85	~1100	~300–400	~2.5	~1400 °C	250–300 W/m·K	>10¹³ Ω·cm	RF electronics, defense

Material Characteristics and Applications

Each material in technical ceramics serves unique industrial needs. Below is a brief summary:

Alumina (Al₂O₃): Widely used in wear-resistant ceramics, offering a balance of hardness, cost-efficiency, and thermal stability.
Zirconia (ZrO₂): Known for its fracture toughness, suitable for impact-prone applications like dental prosthetics and valves.
Silicon Nitride (Si₃N₄): Ideal for high-stress, high-speed applications such as bearings and turbine rotors.
Silicon Carbide (SiC): Excels in chemically corrosive and high-temperature environments, often used in heat exchangers.
Aluminum Nitride (AlN): Combines high thermal conductivity with electrical insulation, perfect for thermal management in power devices.
Machinable Glass Ceramic (MGC): Enables precision ceramic machining for custom ceramic parts and prototypes.
ZTA: Enhances toughness of alumina through zirconia dispersion, used in advanced ceramic applications requiring impact resistance.
Hexagonal Boron Nitride (h-BN): Functions as an electrical insulating ceramic with lubricating properties at high temperatures.
Beryllium Oxide (BeO): Offers highest thermal conductivity, used in RF and microwave components, though restricted due to toxicity concerns.

Ceramics Design Guide

To help your ceramic parts succeed in production, consider the following:

Avoid thin, unsupported walls or sharp internal corners
Maintain consistent wall thickness
Discuss complex features with our engineers early in the design phase
Choose machinable ceramics for rapid iteration

Our technical team will assist you in optimizing your part design for both function and manufacturability.

Advanced Ceramics Manufacturing & Processing

Advanced ceramics manufacturing involves:

material configuration
Spray granulation

Dry pressing
Isostatic pressing
Injection molding
Casting molding
Hot isostatic pressing
Extrusion die molding

Sintering
Hot pressing sintering

CNC machining
Grinding
Polishing
Laser cutting
Surface metallization
Welding

ISO9001:2016
Passed strict inspection
Various testing equipment

Advanced ceramic machining

Advanced ceramics, such as alumina, zirconium oxide, silicon nitride, etc., are often used in high-purity and high-performance applications, with a purity of up to 99.9%. These materials have extremely high hardness and chemical stability, making traditional processing methods almost incapable after sintering.

Therefore, ceramics usually need to be formed by pressing, grouting, extrusion, etc. in the “green body” stage (before sintering). After sintering, the material will shrink by about 20% in volume, and the reserved dimensions must be accurately calculated during molding. After full sintering, the material becomes very hard and brittle and can only be ground, drilled, polished and micro-machined by diamond tools.

The processing process is extremely demanding on equipment, usually requiring multi-axis CNC machining centers and dedicated cooling and lubrication systems to prevent thermal cracks or microcracks. The processing tolerance is extremely small, suitable for high-end applications that require high precision.

Although the processing cost is high, this precision ceramic processing can meet the stringent requirements of materials performance in extreme environments in industries such as electronics, aerospace, medical and semiconductors, and is a solution that cannot be replaced by metals and plastics.