Glossary of Terms

Processes

CNC Machining

Computer Numerically Controlled Machining

CVD

Chemical Vapour Deposition, a production technique involving the reaction of gaseous chemicals, the product of which will deposit onto a prepared substrate.

CIM

Ceramic Injection Moulding, a production technique where ceramic powders are mixed with a plastic into a pliable paste and forced into a mould. 

MIM

Metal Injection Moulding, very similar to CIM, this technique uses specially prepared metal powders to make metal components

DLC

Diamond-Like Carbon

CD Source

Closed Drift ion source

Sintering

The heating process that transforms a green ceramic and densifies the material into a stronger state.

Poling

The application of a high electric field resulting in dipole alignment within the material. 

Glaze

A surface coating that seals any open porosity of the bare ceramic surface from contamination or moisture pickup

Ion Beam Deposition

Applying a coating to a substrate by way of ion beam.

Materials Properties

Coefficient of thermal expansion

Either volumetric or linear this describes the expansion that occurs with a change in temperature. Volumetric describes the volume change whereas linear describes the change in dimensions.

Dielectric Strength

The minimum electric field that produces breakdown of the insulating properties of the dielectric.

Green Ceramic/ Green Body

A ceramic part in an unfired state

Hermetic Seal

Airtight seal

Poisson’s Ratio

When a sample of material is stretched in one axis, it tends to get thinner in the other two axes. Poisson's ratio (ν) is a measure of this tendency. It is defined as the ratio of the strain in the direction of the applied load to the strain normal to the load. For a perfectly incompressible material, the Poisson's ratio would be exactly 0.5.

Porosity

The proportion of the non-solid volume to the total volume of material. 

Thermal Downshock

Thermal downshock is the name given to cracking resulting from rapid temperature change. It occurs when a thermal gradient causes different parts of an object to expand by different amounts. This differential expansion can be understood in terms of stress or of strain, equivalently. At some point, this stress overcomes the strength of the material, causing a crack to form. If nothing stops this crack from propagating through the material, it will cause the component to catastrophically fail.

Young’s Modulus

Young's modulus (or elastic modulus) is a measure of the stiffness of a given material. It is defined as the limit for small strains of the rate of change of stress with strain. This can be experimentally determined from the slope of a stress-strain curve created during tensile tests conducted on a sample of the material. Young's modulus is named after Thomas Young the English physicist, physician, and Egyptologist

Materials and products

PBN

Pyrolytic Boron Nitride

RBSN 

Reaction Bonded Silicon Nitride

SSN

Sintered Silicon Nitride

ZTA

Zirconia Toughened Alumina