Headquartered
in Costa Mesa, California, Ceradyne Inc. is a fully integrated developer and manufacturer
of advanced technical ceramic products and components for defense, industrial, nuclear
power, oil and gas, solar energy, electronic, automotive/transportation and medical
markets.
Founded in 1967, Ceradyne has diversified its product lines to capture opportunities
created by the growing demand for better materials performance. In late 2004, the
company added new product lines and new markets—and one of the world's leading suppliers
of starting powders for manufacturing advanced ceramics products—by acquiring ESK
Ceramics of Kempten, Germany.
The unique characteristics of advanced technical ceramics—hardness, light weight,
ability to withstand extremely high temperatures, resistance to wear and corrosion,
low friction, and special electrical properties—offer significant advantages over
traditional materials such as metals and plastics. As a result, Ceradyne continues
to develop new uses for ceramics and offers a diversified line of high performance
ceramic products for a wide range of markets.
Products and Markets
Automotive / Transportation
Diesel engine cam rollers
Fuel pump components and rollers
Cylindrical rollers for hybrid roller bearings
Aerospace engine igniters, bushings and bearings
Defense
Military ballistic armor protection for personnel, combat and tactical vehicles,
small boats, naval vessels, helicopters, and fixed wing aircraft.
Missile radomes
Electronic
Boron dopants and isotopes for semiconductor production
High performance parts for the electronic industry
Cluster ion implantation sub systems and advanced ion source materials
Industrial
Manufacturing components for aluminum processing, silicon refining, semiconductor
processing, aluminum metalizing, cast iron and super-alloy cutting. Casting/pressing/forming
components for steel and aluminum casting, titanium forming, glass tempering, and
thin-strip metal casting.
Medical/Dental
Medical components for diagnostic and surgical instruments
Dental abutments and crowns
Translucent orthodontic brackets
Nuclear Power
Ceradyne nuclear products offer a full range of thermal neutron absorbing materials
including BORAL® Composite, BORTEC® MMC, BorAluminum™, BoroBond™, Enriched Boron,
and Boron Chemistries for criticality control in wet and dry used and fresh fuel
environments.
Oil and Gas
Innovative oil exploration and recovery is a means for satisfying the ever growing
demand for energy. Ceradyne, Inc. and Ceradyne Bearing Technologies have been working
with large energy companies on proprietary projects since the early 1990s to help
develop further worldwide resources.
Solar Energy
Ceradyne Thermo Materials fused silica casting crucibles are used in the manufacture
of poly-crystalline silicon solar cells, an important energy source for the future.
Qualities of the photovoltaic casting crucibles include high purity and extraordinary
reliability.
Ceradyne Operating Divisions
- Advanced Ceramic Operations – Costa Mesa and Irvine, California
- Advanced Ceramic Operations – Lexington, Kentucky
- Ceradyne Armor Systems, Inc. – Washington, D.C.
- Ceradyne Boron Products LLC – Quapaw, Oklahoma
- Ceradyne Canada ULC – Chicoutimi, Quebec, Canada
- Ceradyne Ceramics India PVT.LTD. – Bangalore, India
- Ceradyne Diaphorm – Salem, New Hampshire
- Ceradyne VIOX - Seattle, Washington
- ESK Ceramics – Kempten, Germany
- Max Pro-Police & Armor – Mountain Green, Utah
- Minco, Inc. – Midway, Tennessee
- Thermo Materials – Atlanta, Georgia
- Tianjin Technical Ceramics – Beijing, China
- SemEquip, Inc. – North Billerica, Massachusetts
- Semicon Associates – Lexington, Kentucky
- Vehicle Armor Systems – Wixom, Michigan