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Overview: Technical Ceramics
Final Advanced Materials offers three product lines of technical ceramics. These materials are popular in the high temperature industry as well as for extrem conditions applications. Choosing the right ceramic depends greatly on the forseen challenges: temperature, corrosion, compressive and flexural strength... It is also necessary to understand the properties of the raw material before choosing a ceramic type.
Product Range: Technical Ceramics
Sintered Ceramics
Sintered ceramics allow the making of parts with high mechanical strength. We only work with high purity, calibrated and approved ceramics. From drafts, these shaped parts are obtained by moulding or extrusion using diamond machining for dense ceramics.
We define the parameters of our prototypes as well as machining them, along with personal production in small and large series. We design and machine ceramic components adapted to specific customer applications: sensors, medical technology, equipment and mechanical engineering, microsystems technology, chemical and process engineering.
Our wide range of sintered technical ceramics will enable you to select the most suitable material for your purpose: alumina, zircon, boron nitride, silicon carbide, silicon nitrid and aluminium nitride.
Machinable Ceramics
Machinable ceramics are easily produced using conventional machine tools. These ceramics can be sawn, drilled, milled and turned with conventional tools, available in all general mechanical workshops.
Machinable ceramics can be used to create small parts as well as validation prototypes. A single ceramic is unable to meet all demands and stresses, which is why we have spent years developing a complete range of easily machinable ceramic materials that are able to meet maximum constraints: alumina, Macor®, Shapal Hi-M Soft, alumina silicate, quartz, porous silica Rescor 310M, boron nitride, and aluminium nitrid.
Pressed Ceramics
Our range of pressed ceramic products are suitable for applications requiring parts with less severe constraints. The properties required for their applications are obtained by cooking above 1,000 °C.
Parts are manufactured by cutting and shaping by means of drying presses, via a wet process and using extruders. Treatment can be carried out on crude materials. The need to make shaping tools means this ceramic range consists only of the large variety.
As standard pressed ceramic products, we offer: mullit, synthetic cordierite and steatite.
FAQs that can help you in this category
Macor is a machinable vitroceramic with a density of 2.52 g/cm3 and capable of resisting temperatures up to 1,000°C for a short term. Macor stands out for its excellent machinability when dry, and by its low thermal conductivity (1.46 W/(m·K)), making it an effective insulator for high temperatures, and an excellent electrical insulator.
Shapal Hi-M Soft has a high thermal conductivity (92 W/(m·K)) and good mechanical properties. Shapal Hi-M Soft is slightly more difficult to machine than Macor but is excellent for heat dissipation.
Final Advanced Materials recommends Macor for prototyping or complex parts with a maximum continuous temperature of 800°C and a short-term temperature of 1,000°C, and Shapal Hi-M Soft for challenging thermal applications.
Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) has a hexagonal crystalline structure, meaning that it is easy to transform using dry machining with carbide tools on a standard CNC machine. Its thermal conductivity is high (20–120 W/(m·K)), and it can withstand temperatures as high as 850-900°C in air. Final Advanced Materials recommends h-BN for high-temperature electrical insulators, or for applications in contact with molten metals or scoria (crucibles, casting support).
Among machinable ceramics, Macor stands out for its high dielectric strength of 45 kV/mm, resistivity of 1015 Ω.m and dielectric constant of 6.01 (at 20°C and 1 MHz). Macor remains stable up to 1,000°C, making it the ideal solution for high-temperature insulators and electronic substrates. For applications where the top priority is high-temperature electrical insulation, Final Advanced Materials therefore recommends Macor for its dielectric stability and its low dielectric loss.
96% machinable alumina's density is of 3.0 g/cm³, with a porosity of 10% and a thermal conductivity of approximately 4.6 W/(m.K). Its maximum short-term working temperature is of approximately 1,650°C. It also has a good chemical stability and thermal shock resistance. Final Advanced Materials recommends machinable alumina for high-temperature applications requiring thermal or electrical insulation at temperatures of over 1,300°C.
Alumina silicate is a natural ceramic derived from pyrophyllite rock which can be heat-treated to improve its mechanical properties and temperature resistance. Without temperature treatment, alumina silicate, with a density of 2.9 g/cm3 and a thermal conductivity of approximately 1.5 W/(m.K), can withstand a continuous exposure to temperatures up to 700°C. After an appropriate heat treatment, the maximum working temperature of alumina silicate is 1,300°C, giving it a compression resistance of approximately 487 MPa and a flexural strength of approximately 50 MPa. Its thermal conductivity also shows a light increase, reaching 2.67 W/(m.K).
Final Advanced Materials recommends alumina silicate for brazing or welding applications, but also for electrical and thermal insulation applications at temperatures of over 1,000°C.