For WZR, the ceramitec in Munich is the most important trade fair. There we meet almost all our customers and establish important contacts with new customers. This year it was finally time again: after 4 years we could present our topics to an international audience. We had chosen a joint booth with Rösler CeramInno and concr3de, an exhibitor team that fitted very well.
Ceramic membranes are gaining interest as they offer the fuel and chemical industries a way to use renewable resources (Power to X, chemical energy storage, CO2 conversion, Power to Chemicals). They are used in electric motors as fuel cells, electrolysis cells, but also in the production of basic chemicals with high value-added potential. These applications are highly complex systems in which chemical processes (molecular decomposition into ions and recombination of ions into molecules) take place at the ceramic membrane and are catalytically controlled.
Everyone has already come across supposedly expensive ceramics in everyday life: Be it the Sunday dinnerware, the ceramic knife or the bathroom sink. If you compare these prices with those of everyday plastic objects – garden chairs, mugs or toilet seats – you will quickly get the impression that ceramic objects are always more expensive than those made of plastic. Is this justified and is it true at all? To get to the bottom of this question, we first need to take a closer look at the two groups of materials.
When describing the properties of technical ceramics, we primarily talk about strength, or more precisely, flexural strength. Ceramics generally have a so-called “catastrophic failure behavior”, which means that ceramics break suddenly and without “warning” when subjected to mechanical stress. This behavior can be well illustrated by determining the flexural strength in a bending test, as Anika Braun has described thoroughly on our homepage.
Why combine the advantages of two materials, such as metal and technical ceramics, in one component, and how is it possible?
The coating of ceramic powder particles has recently gained importance and is therefore used more frequently.
Binder jetting is one of the 7 3d printing processes, depicted in the standard DIN EN ISO/ASTM. In addition to vat photo polymerisation (VPP), material extrusion (MEX) and material jetting (MJT), binder jetting is used to produce ceramic parts as well.
The microstructure of a material is one of the most important parameters – if not THE most important – to be used to assess the quality of a newly developed material or component. Therefore, information about the microstructure can be obtained by porosity measurements or strength tests, since these properties are greatly influenced by the microstructure. Directly, the microstructure of e.g. technical ceramics can be studied using a wide range of methods that have been available to industry and the end-user market since the last century to complement conventional optical microscopy.
Whether it´s the Porta Nigra, castles from the medieval times or the ancient wall in the parallel street: the natural look adds a certain charm
Development, use and monitoring of new materials: Our customers’ daily challenges are also ours. To this end, we would like to provide an insight into our thinking and approach today.