CERAMITEC 2006: Technical ceramic products are indispensable

The growth potential of technical ceramics remains very high. Europe recorded total sales of 6.1 billion euros in 2004, about 17 percent of the global production of approx. 36 billion euros (including carbon products). The decisive factor is that key components made of ceramics determine the success or failure of industry branches in Western Europe, which are hundreds of times larger than it. Many innovations and development trends will be exhibited together with the great variety of ceramic materials and applications, especially in the area of technical ceramics, at CERAMITEC in Munich from May 16 to 19, 2006.

The focal point in production and the most important markets of technical ceramics are in Japan, North America and Western Europe, where Germany is the leader. Close collaboration between materials specialists and technologists with users is becoming increasingly important; this continually opens up new areas, which require ceramic products. Increasingly purer and finer powders as well as new technologies and machines are helpful in this.

For example, ceramic has conquered a solid place in the dental sector with veneers that are genuine and appear natural. Modern ceramic inlay production is being used increasingly, whereby use of computers make exact fits down to the micrometer and fast production possible. Bioceramics is an extensive field in general. For example, materials made of porous spare-parts for skeletons are produced using new modeling procedures, and the new parts fit into the body replacing natural bones. An important “marginal area” is represented by the ceramic knives, which provide optimum help for surgeons; they are unbelievably sharp, antimagnetic and easy to sterilize.

Ceramic products also make important contributions to environmental protection. The development of membranes has reached pore sizes in the nanometer range (i.e., 0.000001 mm), and they serve for separating gases, sterilizing drinking water, removing colors from liquids or recycling materials, for example. Current rust filers are also making important contributions. Modern, wear-resistant machines enable extrusion of multi-cellular mechanical precipitators. These are being used increasingly as rust-particle filters in car exhaust systems. New environmental protection regulations will certainly engender high growth rates here in the future.

High-temperature (HT) fuel cells and ceramic supra-conductive cables are being developed intensively for the energy sector. The latter are employed in increasingly larger test facilities in more than 20 countries, e.g., in a 5-MW electronic ship engine of the US Navy. The first use in space by NASA with a thin, supra-conductive wire from Karlsruhe will take place in the near future. In the meantime, there are even the first supra-conductive transistors in nano sizes. The situation is similar for fuel cells. While many types require pure hydrogen, which is expensive to produce, HT fuel cells working with ceramics can use biogas directly, for example. A total of 25 systems with 250 kW power from a German/America joint venture already have run in part more than 26,000 h without problems, but additional R&D work is also being performed parallel. Monolithic SiC components are also being used increasingly as heat exchangers and burners in the high-temperature range.

Ceramic products have experienced enormously increased attention in the area of personal, helicopter and vehicle armor. The slight weight is above all an outstanding feature here (compared to metals). Experts expect up to 20% annual growth for the next five years for vehicle armor. An interesting new development is “ALON”, a transparent, polycrystalline aluminum oxinitride, which makes transparent and impact-resistant shields, airplane windows, etc. possible.

Ceramics has entered the field of sports with many products: shoe spikes for soccer and other sports, but also jump-off runs for ski jumps are already standard. Bicycles made of carbon fibers are extremely light and very stable; they have already resulted in previously unimaginable record rides. Skis and tennis racket strings made from “smart” fibers provide valuable support, especially to top athletes.

Pushed forward by space travel, new materials and products are being developed that resist increasingly higher temperatures and stronger thermal shocks. The brake system required for landing the space shuttle has opened the door to the use of carbon brakes in airplane, railroad and vehicle manufacturing. It will soon be possible to equip medium-range cars with them. Another development line is in the gas turbine sector. Increasingly high temperatures are required there, which metal materials cannot withstand. Covers made of ceramic help there as heat protection.

Especially interesting novelties have been reported in the carbon sector over the past decades. Although this element has existed a long time as graphite and diamond, these very different materials have also been used to produce nanotubes with few nm diameter and a length of a few 1,000 nm using targeted procedures over the past 15 years. They are twenty times more high-tensile than steel but extremely flexible, conduct heat twice as well as diamonds and offer much less resistance to electric current than good-conductive copper. At the same time, they store current like a battery. They can also be worked into wool fibers and yarn in the meantime; commercial foil is produced from it. Visions already are going in the direction of clothing, which is weatherproof and can serve as sensor or antenna carriers at the same time.

Thanks to the new technologies, which have been developed for processing nano-powders, the properties of ceramic materials are changing. Although very much has already been introduced in the area of nano-materials, the end of this sector is still far from sight. For example, iron oxide powder (particle size approx. 30 nm) has been developed for medicine, cosmetic powders, magnets, etc. Extremely thin covers, which are hydrophilic or hydrophobic, keep toilet bowls clean, prevent moss settlement on ceramic roof tiles, keep dirt away from facades and – in many cases – also kill bacteria. Extremely thin coats of vapor-deposited diamond, inexpensive to produce, protect surfaces against scratches and have a long operating life on cutting tools.

Efforts to make it possible work metals without coolants have given high-performance ceramics a renewed boost. The extreme heat-resistance and corrosion-resistance of ceramic cutting materials are indispensable properties. Thanks to the enormous increase in knowledge about processing ceramics over the past years, complex milling tools can be manufactured today, which can be used with more than 100,000 rotations per minute and have an operating life ten-times longer than conventional tools.

Visitors to CERAMITEC 2006 can obtain comprehensive information about current trends in technical ceramics and establish direct contact with manufacturers from throughout the whole world.

About CERAMITEC
CERAMITEC, 10th International Trade Fair for Machinery, Equipment, Plant, Processes and Raw Materials for CERAMICS and POWDER METALLURGY, will take place on the grounds of the New Munich Trade Fair Centre from May 16 to 19, 2006. CERAMITEC has developed into the world’s leading trade fair for the ceramic industry since its premier in 1974. The comprehensive supporting program provides an ideal overview of current trends and innovations in the ceramic market. Approximately 765 exhibitors from 41 countries and 25,000 visitors from 106 countries came in 2003. Exhibitor and visitor figures for CERAMITEC are checked by an independent auditor contracted by the Gesellschaft zur Freiwilligen Kontrolle von Messe- und Ausstellungszahlen (Society for Voluntary Control of Fair and Exhibition Statistics).

About Messe München International (MMI)
Messe München International (MMI, Munich Trade Fairs International Group) is one of the world´s leading trade-fair companies. It organises around 40 trade fairs for capital and consumer goods, and key high-tech industries. Each year over 30,000 exhibitors from more than 100 countries, and over two million visitors from more than 200 countries take part in the events in Munich. In addition, MMI organises trade fairs in Asia, Russia, the Middle East and South America. With four subsidiaries abroad and with 62 foreign representatives serving 86 countries, MMI has a truly global network.

Additional information and the latest press releases are available at www.ceramitec.de

Contact for journalists:
Merle Hirsch
CERAMITEC 2006 Press Office
Tel. (+49 89) 9 49-2 02 47
Fax (+49 89) 9 49-2 02 49
Merle.hirsch@messe-muenchen.de
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This release was published on openPR.