Ceramic Materials and Applications

This assignment delves into the multifaceted world of ceramic materials. It examines their fundamental properties, diverse manufacturing processes, and wide-ranging applications across sectors like automotive, electronics, and healthcare. The discussion encompasses key aspects such as defect detection, life cycle assessment, and the impact of automation on ceramic production. Students are encouraged to critically analyze the challenges and opportunities presented by this dynamic field.

Running head: CERAMICS IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
Ceramics in the automotive industry
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

1CERAMICS IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
Executive summary:
This report is focused to discuss the role of ceramics in the automotive industry. To make it a
comprehensives analysis it has performed background checking of the ceramics in automotive
industry and traced various changes in the industry due to introduction of the ceramics. It has
been found in the report that ceramics has acted as the boon to the automotive industry because it
has given it a scope to have better sustainability by reducing carbon emission and make the
automotive industry highly advanced. The report has analyzed various usage of ceramics in the
automotive industry and it has found that ceramic is everywhere in the automotive industry,
ranging from bearings to glass panels. To make the report ready for further research, future scope
has been mentioned and to conclude a summarized overview has been mentioned in this report.

2CERAMICS IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
Table of Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................3
Overview of manufacturing process:...............................................................................................4
Common method of manufacturing:................................................................................................7
Sensor:.........................................................................................................................................7
Ultrasonic level sensor:................................................................................................................8
Pressure monitoring system:........................................................................................................8
Comfort system:...........................................................................................................................9
Seals and valves:..........................................................................................................................9
Conclusion:......................................................................................................................................9
Future trend:...................................................................................................................................11
References:....................................................................................................................................13

3CERAMICS IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
Introduction:
Early 19th century was the time when the driving force for the researches on advanced
materials was largely been concentrated on the defence application and aerospace industry
(Noble 2017). However, during the late 1960s the trend started to swing towards the automotive
industry owing to the fact that application oriented parameters of the aerospace and defence
industry were limited (Jani et al. 2014). Automotive industry on the other hand is the necessary
good for civilian application and highly technologically advanced yet a low cost machine that
withstand against any climatic situation unlike the aerospace industry outcome. Utility gained
through automobiles are at par with the human desire and the advantage of using automobiles
has given rise in research of advanced materials for the automotive industry. Advanced materials
play a crucial role in fabrication and design of various automotive components that has given
stimuli towards the research of new materials of automobiles leading to a steady growth of the
industry (Sapuan and Mansor 2014). Main goal of finding new material for the automotive
industry is to enhance the fuel efficiency of the vehicles through reduced weight and better
agronomics and design (Aydin et al. 2015). Besides this, advanced materials for the automotive
industry aid the environment to have better sustainability, through reduction in carbon footprint
and reduction in usage of fossil fuel. Material chemistry plays a crucial role in designing
advanced materials for the automotive industry and the magic begun to appear, once the
automobile manufacturers stated utilizing the ceramics in their products (Muthu 2014). This
written report is focused to discuss the importance of Ceramics in the automotive industry and
portray how it has changed the manufacturing process. Besides this, the report will discuss
common method of manufacturing of automobiles and the role of ceramics in these processes.

4CERAMICS IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
To conclude the report will provide scope of future usage of ceramics in automobile industries
and a summarized overview of this report.
Overview of manufacturing process:
During the 1970s, there have been some outstanding researches in the automotive
industry that has leaded it to become where it is now. One of the main driving forces for the
recent growth and better sustainability of the automotive industry has been achieved by the
introduction of ceramics in the automotive industry (Ali et al. 2015). Ceramics are considered
and the enabling factor for advanced technologies likes telecommunication, electronics, optical
systems, catalysts, heat engines. However, when it comes to the most useful involvement of the
ceramics, then automotive industry is the place, where it has been used since decades.
Researches regarding ceramics for automotive industry began back in 1970s and since then it
have been cannon balling the growth of automobile industry largely (Ahmad et al. 2015).
Depending upon the advantages of the ceramics, automobile industry has faced various changes
in various fields. Ranging from designing to manufacturing vehicles have become easy and using
the significant tensile stress, hardness, and heat resisting capabilities of ceramics automobiles are
now much more stronger, agile, durable and technologically advanced.
Application Payoff
Diesel light duty vehicle 10-15% reduction in diesel consumption
Diesel heavy duty vehicle 22% reduction in diesel consumption
Gas turbine light duty
vehicle
27% reduction in fuel consumption
Table 1: Benefit of ceramics in automotive industry
Source: (Sathyamoorthi, Prabhakaran and Abraar 2016)

5CERAMICS IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
Using ceramics in automotive industry is great in true sense and its potential payoffs to
the society are large. As showcased in the table 1, utilization of ceramics can effectively reduce
the fuel consumption leading to a better environmental and economical sustainability. According
to the studies of Sathyamoorthi, Prabhakaran and Abraar (2016) diesel consumption can be
reduced by $5 billion in US alone if ceramics is used in the automotive industry. Well, there has
been various benefits of using ceramics; not only in automotive industry, besides it can be used
in aerospace, military purpose, for cutting tools and etc. However, to make this report
comprehensive, it would be necessary to study the background of ceramics and how the world
was before it was discovered.
According to the soil science, surface of earth is mostly build of the ceramic materials,
which are present as the fragmented rock or solid rock (Bergstrom 2017). Ceramic is being used
by the early human species in their natural forms since the beginning of civilisation, however
during the 20th century; scientists successfully synthesize it using chemical methods. It can be
considered as a remarkable achievement of the modern engineering, which is present everywhere
(Emami et al. 2014). One of the greatest blessings of modern ceramic engineering is directed
towards the automotive industry, which has accepted this composite material wholeheartedly.
Since 1949, usage of ceramic began in automotive industry through spark plugs. According to
the studies, prior to introduction of ceramics in automotive industry, US workers, during 1920s
used to make only 60,000 spark plugs per year (Rosner 2016). The scenario changed drastically
over the time with introduction of ceramics and the figure of spark plug production turned out to
be four times compared to the pre ceramic situation. If the present scenario of spark plug
production is considered, then the figure is staggering high compared to the scenario of 1920.
With the help of modern ceramics, workers around the world approximately produce more than 3

6CERAMICS IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
million spark plugs each day (Wang et al. 2017). Besides this, quality of the spark plus has also
been uplifted greatly by using the modern ceramics. Now they are more carrion resistive, have
great hardness, high resistance to temperature making the spark plugs withstand any climatic and
usage situation.
Coming to the next usage of ceramic, the report focuses on the bearings, which are
another essential component for the automotive industry. Without bearings, automotive parts will
no longer be moveable and the whole system may come to a haul. High performance ceramic
bearings, specifically M-50 rule the automotive industry, which gained its popularity through
usage of ceramics (Ascheri et al. 2014). The reason behind such huge popularity of this specific
bearing in the automotive industry is its low friction coefficient. With lower friction this bearings
performs smoothly for a prolonged time without any tantrums making it the best bearing. Next
outstanding gift of ceramics towards the automotive industry is sensor of various types. Ranging
from air bag sensors to oxygen sensors, modern ceramics has always acted as the boon toward
the automotive industry. Most of the ceramics of this century is made out of silicon nitride,
silicon carbide, alumina, zirconia. Silicon nitride has given automotive industry an upper hand to
make composite glass panels, which are much tougher and heat resistant, compared to the normal
glass panels (Zheng et al. 2015). Silicon carbide has aided the automotive industry to make
sophisticated turbine components that can withstand against high temperature and high pressure,
compared to the engines made out of iron. Alumina is being in used to make spark plugs for the
automotive industry and when it comes to zirconia, and then it is being used in the sensors of the
vehicles. For instance, zirconia aids the automotive industry to make oxygen sensor, pressure
sensor, airbag sensors, which were being produced in earlier days with the help of silicon (Pauzi

7CERAMICS IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
et al. 2016). With the usage of ceramic in the automotive industry, performance of the vehicles
can be enhanced greatly.
One of the important reasons to perform extensive researches on the ceramics was its
capability to reduce environmental hazards produced by the automobiles. Besides this, it
provides automobile to have a larger life cycle and ability to withstand adverse driving and
natural condition (La Rosa and Cicala 2015). With better sensors and better equipments made
with the ceramics, automobiles now produce reduce carbon wastage that not only aids the
environment to keep healthy, moreover makes the world a sustainable place for future
generation.
Common method of manufacturing:
Over the last decade, ceramic has been used in automotive industry largely and it is now
common to use it in automotives to make them technologically updated. It has great physical,
electrical and thermal properties and most importantly cheaper than other means of producing
automotive parts. With rise in demand of innovative design from the customer’s end, and
government policies regarding safety of automobiles as well as environment, ceramic usage
growth have rose largely (Yan 2015). Owing to the superiority of ceramics, ranging from sensors
to seals, many automotive parts are being manufactured with the help of ceramics, which has
revolutionized the automotive market. Most common usage of ceramics in automotive industry
has been mentioned below:
Sensor:
Ceramic is one of the ideal metals for sensors owing to its property and cost advantages
over other materials. It is robust in built quality, has no moving parts and customers can reliable
on it because it has average life cycle of 50 years. These sensors are installed below to the

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interior of the automobiles and these sensors are exposed to the extreme natural conditions.
Ceramics being a highly heat resistive and technologically updated, these are ideal solution for
the sensors. A list of sensors are being used with the help of ceramics; for instance, it is being
used in alarm systems, parking aids, engine knock, wheel balancing, ignition system and ABS
systems (Blank, Eksperiandova and Belikob 2016). Prior to the introduction of ceramics in
automotive industry, these sensors were made out of silicon; however, these were not suitable for
long usage. They have less amount of heat resistance and lifecycle was low compared to their
silicon counterparts. Due to lack of the synthetic ceramic materials and high cost of researching
and development, producers were need to compromise in production of the sensors.
Ultrasonic level sensor:
Ultrasonic level sensors are one of the most important parts of any automotives because it
takes care the fuel tank of vehicle. With the help of Ship in a Bottle technology, ceramics is used
to create blow moulded tank that encompasses fuel level sensors, fuel pumps and various other
component of the fuel tanks. Using ceramics scope of evaporation emission is reduced largely
and corrosive resistance nature of this material helps the fuel tank to have a better lifecycle.
Traditional gauge of the fuel tanks possess less accuracy, greater evaporation scope and lowered
lifecycle (Kesharaju et al. 2014). Thus, with advanced research, researches have come to
synthetic ceramics that has given fuel tanks efficiency, higher longevity and great amount of cost
effectiveness compared to the traditional materials for fuel tank level sensors.
Pressure monitoring system:
Ceramics is used in maintaining the safety of the automotives by giving the producers a
scope to develop monitoring system like Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS). This sensor
aids the drivers to look into the tyre condition and take safety measure in case of any deflation.

9CERAMICS IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
According to the studies of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, using ceramics in
TPMS, road accidents has been reduce substantially and passengers have faced 56% reduced tyre
punctures (Webster and Eren 2017).
Comfort system:
Comfort is essential for every automobile and with the help of ceramics; comfort system
has become highly agile, flexible and cost effective. Ceramics with the use of carbon fibre,
comfort system has now 20-30% higher deflection and thus flexibility has become greater,
compared to the traditional leathers (Irshad et al. 2017). This has reduced the weight of the
comfort systems that has provided manufacturers scope to introduce intricate product with
reduced cost.
Seals and valves:
Seals and valves are the essential components of automobiles. These things aid the engine
of automobiles to remain cool and perform efficiently. Previously these things were made with
the help of metals and rubbers, which has lower lifecycle, less amount of mechanical strengths
and high cost. Using the zirconia and alumina, ceramics valves and seals of automobiles has
better heat resistance, better life cycle, extreme hardness and enhanced corrosive resistance.
Now, ceramics has raised the lifecycle of seal and valves by 250 times and pressure resistance
capability by 20 times. Cost of the ceramic seals and valves has been reduced by the 20-30%
making it the best option to be utilized in automotive industry (Cook 2017).
Conclusion:
The report has discussed ceramics in automotive industry and besides this, the report has
tried to discuss, why there is a rise in usage of these materials in the industry. The report has

10CERAMICS IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
found that it has various benefits compared to traditional materials, which were used until 2000
and it is the main reason of using it in automotive industry. According to the analysis in this
report, benefits of using ceramics are mentioned below:
 Ceramics has higher lifecycle compared to the traditional materials used in automotive
industry. The report has found that, lifecycle of automotive parts made out of ceramics
has been enhanced by 20% on an average.
 Cost for the parts for automotives is greatly reduced due to the usage of ceramics. The
report has found that cost of the parts has been reduced by 8-10% leading to overall
reduced price and better buying power to the customers.
 Ceramic parts for the automotive industry are one of the best things that aid to control the
carbon footprint of the vehicles. Ceramic components aid the producers to reduce the
weight of mechanical parts and fuel consumption that helps the automotive industry to
reduce the carbon footprint.
 Ceramics has better heat resistance capability, which is essential for the automobiles.
Automotive components like bearings, Sensors and valves are exposed to extreme natural
conditions. To withstand any adverse situation, these parts need to be strong and agile
enough and height resistive, which can only be gained with the usage of ceramics in these
equipments.
Besides these advantages, report has found that automotive industry use ceramics owing
to their huge flexibility, agility and ability to give automotive industry a technological edge over
aerospace mechanics. The human is using ceramics since the initial days of civilization;
however, it was used in their natural form, which was fragile in nature and not up to the mark to
compete with the metals. The report argues that, modern engineering has used the chemical

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engineering to process ceramics synthetically, which is strong like diamond, highly heat resistant
in nature and corrosion free. These features make the synthetic ceramics the best option for the
automotive industry.
Future trend:
Ceramics is used in various industries ranging from imaging industry to the medical
industry. However, ceramics is used mostly in the automotive industry followed by the aerospace
industry and military industry. Automobiles are composed of 70% ceramics that makes it a
industry that uses highest amount of these materials in production line (McDermott et al. 2017).
Since 1970s, ceramics has been started to use in the automotive industry and with rise in
researches, new advanced ceramic tools have came into existence and the usage of ceramics
started to grow exorbitantly. From smallest sensors and valves to largest part, windshield is now
made out of ceramics. This portrays how beneficial ceramic is for the automotive industry and
how ceramic has changed the automotive industry. Considering the recent tendency in rise in
usage of ceramics future trend of ceramics is highly advantageous. Automotive industry, which
now uses sensors, valves, engine blocks made out of ceramics is aiming to make improved
sensors, thermal charges, colour coating and electrical components with the help of ceramics.
Moreover, industry is aimed to make ceramic fuel cells, photovoltaic cells, batteries, fibre optics
for transmission energy using the ceramics. It will aid the automakers to bring in such
automobiles that will help to reduce the fuel consumption, carbon emission, weight of the cars
and enhance the agility, flexibility and lifecycle of the vehicles. According to the Ceramics
Expo, automotive industry is aimed to produce advanced ceramic glass for the cars, adhesive for
the vehicles and bio glass materials with the help of ceramics (Homa 2016). Moreover, recent
researches has taken place regarding the ceramic fuel and engine components, which are meant

12CERAMICS IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
to produce light weight parts for the vehicles leading to reduced curb weight. In addition to this,
Ceramics Expo argues that, complexity in production line can be reduced largely, giving a boost
in the automotive industry to make the production issue simplified (Yang 2014). They argue that
it will enhance the supply chain and make the vehicles more corrosion resistance. Well,
considering this aim and development path of ceramics, it can be stated that future trend of
ceramics is going to alter the present scenario of automotive industry and it will bring in
technological advancement as well.

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