February 2016 Issue | Ceramic Industry

Our annual R&D Lab Equipment and Instrumentation Directory helps you locate the best suppliers for your needs. This issue also includes articles focused on deformation and tension, materials characterization trends, non-destructive imaging, and more. Check it out!

Studying Deformation and Tension in Traditional Ceramic Materials

Ceramic manufacturers can use new optical equipment in order to design high-quality products and avoid common defects.

Vittorio Mercurio Piero Scotto Mariano Paganelli

February 1, 2016

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During firing, a glaze applied on a ceramic body undergoes several transformations, including water loss from the clay components, glass transition and softening. During the softening phase, the glaze starts to melt, giving rise to a continuous liquid layer.

New Trends in Ceramic Materials Properties Characterization

Advanced ceramic materials require novel and improved methods of synthesis, characterization, and investigation.

Kristina Lilova

February 1, 2016

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The continuing development of ceramic materials, along with an increasing number of industrial applications, is posing new challenges for the materials science industry.

Monitoring the Elastic Properties of Green Ceramics during Firing

IET can be used to measure elastic properties of materials at room temperature, as well as cryogenic and high temperatures.

P.A. Bosomworth

February 1, 2016

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Measuring the elastic properties of a green ceramic as it is being fired can be difficult and often requires sophisticated non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques. One effective method is called the the impulse excitation technique (IET).

Multi-Layer and 3-D Acoustic Imaging of Ceramics

Two refined imaging techniques are able to produce detailed and precisely oriented acoustic images for advanced ceramics and other materials.

Tom Adams

February 1, 2016

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Acoustic micro-imaging tools perform the non-destructive imaging and analysis of internal features (including anomalies and defects) in advanced ceramics and other materials by pulsing ultrasound into the sample and receiving the return echoes.

Materials Substitution Fraud: A Cautionary Tale for Ceramic Manufacturers

If a supplier lets you down, where does the buck really stop?

Drian Glyde

February 1, 2016

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In today’s manufacturing world, materials production and supply have grown increasingly complex. Business moves quickly, information is exchanged across the globe almost instantaneously, and pressure for immediate performance can be extremely high—even in industries that require long production cycles. As a result, product shipment and quality assurance can often struggle to keep up with the breakneck pace and expectations.

Materials Innovation

Visualizing Atoms of Perovskite Crystals

Shedding light on the molecule-ion interplay on the surface of an organic-inorganic perovskite crystal could help improve future solar cells.

February 1, 2016

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Organic-inorganic perovskite materials are key components of the new generation of solar cells. Understanding the properties of these materials is important for improving the lifetime and quality of solar cells.

Glass Innovation

Best of Both Worlds with a Glass-Polymer Hybrid

A newly developed glass-polymer hybrid electrolyte addresses challenges in solid-state lithium batteries.

February 1, 2016

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Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a novel electrolyte for use in solid-state lithium batteries that overcomes many of the problems that plague other solid electrolytes while also showing signs of being compatible with next-generation cathodes.

Inside CI

Evaluating Relationships of Ceramic Materials

Unfortunately, not all ceramic body and glaze relationships are a match made in heaven.

Susan Sutton

February 1, 2016

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Happy Valentine's Day! In the best romantic relationships, two often dissimilar partners join together to create a new, singular unit. Likewise, a finished ceramic tile generally incorporates a fired ceramic body and a glaze to create a product of beauty and utility. Unfortunately, not all relationships are a match made in heaven.

IP in Depth: Unscrupulous Activities of Non-Practicing Entities Continue

A NPE is an entity that holds a patent for a product or process but has no intention of developing it.

Michael Gzybowski

February 1, 2016

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Last year saw 5,769 new patent suits filed in federal district courts, representing a 15% increase over the previous year, with non-practicing entities (NPEs) filing two out of every three of these suits.