Definition Of Ceramics In Material Science

Different materials have different properties.

Definition of ceramics in material science.

Nowadays the term ceramic has a more expansive meaning and includes materials like glass advanced ceramics and some cement systems as well. In the past glass was considered a ceramic because it s an inorganic solid that is fired and treated much like ceramic. Composite materials combine two or more materials. It was chosen for this purpose because along with many ceramics it is lightweight can.

The ordered internal structure of ceramics plays a large role in their properties. A ceramic is a refractory high temperature heat resistant inorganic and nonmetallic material. The properties of ceramics however also depend on their microstructure. It may be crystalline glassy or both crystalline and glassy.

Sometimes even monocrystalline materials such as diamond and sapphire are erroneously included under the term ceramics. These material properties are utilized to produce number of commercial and domestic products such as pottery bricks advanced functional items etc. They withstand chemical erosion that occurs in other materials subjected to acidic or caustic environments. Ceramics are typically hard and chemically non reactive and can be formed or densified with heat.

Ceramics play an important role in engine efficiency and pollution abatement in automobiles and trucks. Engineering ceramics can be divided into functional ceramics and high strength structural ceramics. Ceramics are hard and strong but brittle. For example one type of ceramic cordierite a magnesium aluminosilicate is used as a substrate and support for catalysts in catalytic converters.

Advanced ceramics and traditional ceramics are the main categories of ceramic materials. A ceramic material is an inorganic non metallic often crystalline oxide nitride or carbide material. Polycrystalline materials are formed by multiple. However one workable definition of ceramics can be expressed as follows.

Ceramics are by definition natural or synthetic inorganic non metallic polycrystalline materials. A ceramic is a material that is neither metallic nor organic. However because glass is an amorphous solid glass is usually considered to be a separate material. Solid pure silicon and carbon may be considered to be ceramics.

Ceramic materials can be identified by their general properties like high hardness brittleness chemical stability and low thermal conductivity. Ceramic comes from the greek word meaning pottery. Materials science and engineering. Polymers are strong and tough and often flexible.

Before sintering green bodies of ceramics include in their microstructure agglomerates impurities spatial variations of porosity and composition and preferred orientation of asymmetric particles. The clay based domestic wares art objects and building products are familiar to us all but pottery is just one part of the ceramic world. Some elements such as carbon or silicon may be considered ceramics ceramic materials are brittle hard strong in compression and weak in shearing and tension. Arnold in encyclopedia of materials.

Science and technology 2001.