Fuel Cells, Ceramics

(a) Crack and Flaw Detection in Ceramics

Ceramic materials or ceramic composites are intensively used in various industries, such as automotive, electronics, aerospace, consumer and defense to name a few. In general, most ceramics are hard, wear-resistant, refractory, thermal insulators, electrical insulators, nonmagnetic, oxidation resistant, prone to thermal shock, and chemically stable. Ceramics are harder and stiffer than steel; less dense (lighter) than most metals and metal alloys, and their raw materials are both plentiful and inexpensive. In the mechanical sense, ceramics are hard but brittle. This is a direct consequence of covalent/ionic bonds between ceramic atoms. In practice ceramic cracking is one of the fundamental problems that must be addressed by industry.

Ultrasonic Technologies offers advanced diagnostics of ceramic material integrity using the proprietary Resonance Ultrasonic Vibrations (RUV) technology and tools. Three specific cases are represented by (a) solid oxide fuel cells, (b) composite body armor plates, and (c) dental zirconia discs.