Advanced Ceramics
The combination of pre-sintering or glass encapsulation and HIPping offers the possibility of producing high quality ceramics for a wide range of applications including wear resistant Si3N4 components, protective glass, ball bearings, nozzles, thread guides, pump components and many other high performance products.
The HIP process eliminates the porosity of the pre-sintered material to improve its tensile ductility, fatigue strength and polishability. HIP thus improves material properties and can also improve the microstructural homogeneity. Recently, a wide variety of ceramic materials have been introduced into medical and dental implants to improve fatigue properties and thereby extend their life in service. Important criteria for the function of artificial joints, for example, are extremely low friction and high wear resistance. Body and vehicle armor as ballistic protection material, are additional examples of HIPped ceramic usage.
