Ceramic, Polymer and Composite Materials

Inorganic and non-metallic

materials (mostly oxide of various metals) Bonding is either ionic or covalent Brittle in nature, good corrosion and wear resistance.

What is Ceramic Materials?

Widely used for household

items, electronics, electrical, communication, tools, as well as in many other industrial uses.

Crystal Structures of Ceramic Materials

Compared to metallic materials, crystal structures of ceramic materials are more complex. Anions give main structure, cations sit at convenient positions.

Other Examples: MgO, MnS, LiF, FeO

Other Examples: ZnTe, SiC, etc

Phase Diagrams: Ternary Phase Diagrams

SS: Solid solution, Mullite: Intermediate compound of silica and alumina

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 Non-crystalline ceramics Composed of various types of metallic oxides (mainly) Used for household containers, window, lenses, fibre glass, etc.

Glasses

 When amorphous glass is changed to crystalline one by

controlled high temperature heat treatment. The heat treatment is completed by formation small glassceramic grains through nucleation and growth process.

Glass-Ceramics

Properties and Uses of Glass-Ceramics

Good dielectric properties. Widely used as ovenware, tableware, oven window, electrnic As substrate for printed circuit boards, heat exchangers, etc.
Ceramics: Clay Products
packaging industries.

Better mechanical properties, low thermal expansion and shocks, high temperature properties, better biocompatability.

Main ingredient is natural clay. It is mixed with water and other After shaping, the product is dried, fired, glazed and so on. Main product groups are structural products (bricks, tiles,
sewer pipes) and whitewares (uses ???).
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ingredients to have a good plastic mass easy for shaping.

Ceramics: Refractory Products

Mostly inert at severe environment at high temperature. Wide variety of product, but main product is brick. Mainly used as furnace lining in steel and power generation
industries, glass factories, heat treatment furnaces, etc.

High melting point materials inert to decoposition at high temperature, good thermal insulating property.

 Very high purity oxide with very little porosity. Main groups are alumina (tube furnace), magnesia (tube

Special Refractories

furnace and other engineering products), beryllia, zirconia, silicon carbide (heating elements in furnaces), carbon and graphites (crucible for furnace), etc.

Ceramics: Abrasive Products

Abrasive ceramics are used to wear or cut away of Uses: Grinding, polishing or lapping wheels.
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other materials. Diamond, alumina, SiC, WC, silica sand, etc.

Cements: Mixture of Ceramic Materials

Special behaviours: When mixed with water they form paste,

subsequently set and harden to form a rigid load bearing component. Here no firing is needed. etc. as per requirements.

Cements: Several commercial products as cement, plaster of paris, lime, etc.

Might be mixed with other component as bricks, sand, stone, Very common cement is the portland cement, which is a
mixture of clay and lime bearing component (lime stone). The mixture is calcined and then ground.

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Advanced Ceramics

Microelectromechanical System (MEMS)

It is mechanical device composed of several electrical components on silicon substrate. All components are in micrometer dimensions.

Mechanical Components: Microsensors and microactuator. Microactuator then responses as positioning, moving,
filtering, pumping, etc.

Microsensors collect mechanical, thermal, chemical, optical and magnetic information.

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Optical Fibre

Made of high purity silica, free from minute levels of Fully defect free that can absorb, scatter or attenuate light beam. Needs very advanced and high quality processing technique.
Optical Fibre in Communication
contaminants.

In metallic wire signal transfer is electronic, whereas in OF it is For simultaneous 24,000 telephone calls if we need 33 tons of
copper, then optical fibre it is possible from 0.1kg of OF materials. Diameter of OF is 5 to 100 micrometer.
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eletromagnetic or light radiation.

Ceramic Ball Bearing

Recently, Si3N4 has replaced many metallic components. Silicon nitride is inferior interms of tensile strength, so in many Silicon nitride is lighter (density 3.3) compared to steel (7.84).
So, hybride ball-bearing is lighter. The modulus of elasticity of silicon nitride is 320 GPa, which is 200 GPa for steel. So, hybrid ball bearing is resistant to 30-40% higher speed compared to that of steel ball bearing system. cases ceramic balls and steel races are used in combination. This combination is known as hybrid bearing.

In past beraing metals which are hard, strong, corrosion resistant were used to make ball and race components.

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Polymeric Materials

It is one type of hydrocarbon. Two gross categories: Natural and Natural: Wood, rubber, wool, cotton, leather, silk, etc. Synthetic: Synthetically produced, wide varieties, superior to
natural one. Ethylene Acetylene synthetic.

Saturated Polymer: Where double or triple covalent bond exists. Saturated: When elements have single bond. For further entry of
atom, one bonded atom must be replaced, as methane, ethane.
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Isomerism
Same composition with different atomic arrangement, butane.

Normal Butane Isobutane

Molecular Structures of Polymers

Linear Polymers: Here repeat unit is joined together end to end. Extensive Van der Waals bond is effective, very flexible, e.g. PE, PVC, PS, nylon, etc.
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Branched Polymers
Besides end to end chains, side chains are also formed due to change in synthesis parameters. Side chain formation reduces the density. Example: LDPE.

Crosslinked Polymers
Adjacent linear chains are joined by covalent bonds at various locations. This is done by adding foreign atoms or molecules. Example: Most of rubber is crosslinked in this way called vulcanization.
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Network Polymers
Heavily crosslinked polymer is called network polymer. High temperature and good mechanical properties. Epoxy, phenol-formaldehyde, etc.

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Thermoplastic and Thermoset Polymers

Thermoplastic Polymers
Polymers which soften and liquefy on heating and solidify and harden on cooling. Most linear and branched polymers are thermoplastic. Generally soft and recyclable. PE, PVC, PS, PP, etc.

Thermosetting Polymers
Becomes permanently hard during processing and do not soften on heating Epoxy, phenol-formaldehyde, polyester, etc. 10-50% bonds are branched. Stronger than thermoplastic polymers, better thermal and dimensional stability.

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Copolymers
For better service properties two or more polymers are synthesized together. May be various types, in general four types.

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Applications of Various Polymeric Materials (Plastic)

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Elastomers

It has ability to be deformed to a large extent and can elastically To be elastomers polymers must be amorphous, chain bond
rotation must be of free movement type, delayed onset of plasticity.

spring back during unloading because of crosslink driving force.

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Composite Materials

Composite is a multi-phase material, where each constituent Examples: 1. Pearlite composed of very hard and brittle In the present state composite is artificially made.
phases contribute for required combination of unusual properties. cementite and very soft and ductile ferrite. TS of cementite is 5000psi and for ferrite it is 40000psi. TS of peralite is 120,000psi, where a synergism is operative which difficult to explain.

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 Matrix phase is continuous and surrounds the filler/reinforcing Depending on required properties, reinforcing phases might be of
different shape, size, spatial distribution to fulfill the target. phase(s).

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Classification of Composites

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Large Particle Reinforced Composites

Fiber Reinforced Composites

For better property combination critical Critical length depends on diameter, tensile
and shear strength of the fiber.
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length of fiber is important.

Deformation Pattern in Fiber Reinforced Composites

Continuous Fiber : When L = 15Lc

Continuous, discontinuos and randomly oriented fibers

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Importance of Critical Length of Fiber in Composite

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Stress-strain Curves of Composite with Ductile Matrix and Brittle Fiber

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Elastic Behaviour in Longitudinal Loading

In the longitudinal direction

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Fiber and Matrix Phases of Composite

Various materials of different shape, size, distribution and Matrix Phases might be metallic, ceramic or polymeric. Depending
on matrix phases composites are named as MMC, CMC or PMC. concentration.

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