From military armor to automotive and industrial applications, modern manufacturing requires materials that can meet sophisticated demands and deliver high-level performance. Ceradyne answers this call with the manufacture of custom parts and systems made from advanced technical ceramics.

Our solutions are based on a broad material portfolio that offers superior properties, advanced forming technologies, and high quality products. Moreover, we use specific formulations and processing methods to produce components that outperform other materials. Ceradyne high performance materials enable the production of components that deliver excellent results.

Two examples of our advanced technical ceramics are boron carbide and silicon nitride.

Boron Carbide

Ceralloy® 546 Boron Carbide is the lightest technical ceramic material (2.5 g/cm³) as well as the hardest (second only to diamond). Our fully dense boron carbide is produced by hot pressing and delivers many in-demand characteristics:

• Light weight
• High hardness
• Erosion resistance
• High modulus
• Neutron absorption

Ceralloy® 546 Boron Carbide is used for vehicle armor systems, sputtering targets, industrial manufacturing, semiconductors, and much more.

Silicon Nitride

Ceradyne offers a complete family of silicon nitride materials, including:

• Ceralloy® 147 Gas Pressured Sintered Silicon Nitride (GP-SRBSN)
  • A family of fully dense materials with a range of compositions that are produced in cost effective, complex net shapes.
  • Used in automotive transportation, bearings and rolling elements, industrial applications, armor systems, and more.
  • Ceralloy® 147 GP-SRBSN or Needlelok® Silicon Nitride
    • Produced using patented compositions and processing techniques that result in an in-situ silicon nitride interlocking needle-like microstructure.
    • Provides exceptional hardness and superb fracture toughness that translates to superior mechanical reliability.
    • Ceralloy® 147-3 GP-SRBSN or Needlelok® Silicon Nitride
      • Produced using high pressure sintering that results in an essentially pore-free microstructure.
      • Delivers many key characteristics: light weight, strong, hard, tough, low coefficient of friction, thermal shock resistant, wear resistant, contact fatigue resistant.
      • Ceralloy® 147 Reaction Bonded Silicon Nitride (RBSN)
        • A high purity grade of silicon nitride having a density of approximately 70-80% theoretical.
        • Can be manufactured to close tolerance without the need for expensive diamond grinding.
        • Ceralloy® 147 Hot Pressed Silicon Nitride (HPSN)
          • Formulated into a variety of compositions having minimal densification aids.
          • Provides the highest strength of Ceradyne’s silicon nitrides.

To learn more, visit our Advanced Materials page.