Introduction to
Ceramics and
Polymer Materials
Reference:
1. WD Callister, Jr., Materials Science and Engineering An Introduction,
7th Ed., Ch. 1 (Page 6-9).
CLASSIFICATION OF MATERIALS
Metals
Composites Materials Ceramics
Polymers
Introduction to Ceramics
✓ Ceramics comes from the Greece word keramicos, which means “burnt stuff”
✓ Ceramics are mainly inorganic and nonmetallic materials are mainly mixture of different
oxides, nitrides, and carbides
✓ Usually a compound, or a combination of compounds, between metallic and nonmetallic
elements (mainly, O, N, C, B) e.g. oxides (Al2O3), nitrides(Si3N4), and carbides (SiC)
✓ Bonds are either totally ionic, or combination of ionic and covalent
COMMON PROPERTIES
➢ High melting point and high refractoriness (except glass)
➢ Generally electrical and thermal insulators
➢ Generally hard and strong with low plasticity
➢ Low fracture toughness (brittle)
➢ Chemically inert
➢ Many are low cost ([Link])
➢ Wide range of appearance
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES:
✓ Density: In between metal and polymer
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES:
✓ Stiffness (Elastic/Young’s Modulus): Close to Metal
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES:
✓ Strong (very close to metals)
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES:
✓ Very Hard and Extremely Brittle (lack of Ductility); Exceptional: ZrO2 toughened Al2O3 (cutting tools)
THERMAL PROPERTIES:
➢ Insulative to pass heat
➢ High temperature resistance
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES:
❖ In general, Low electrical conductivity; exceptional: YBa2Cu3O7 (superconductor)
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
❑ May be Transparent, Translucent, or Opaque
MAGNETIC PROPERTIES
✓ Some of the oxide ceramics (e.g., (Ba,Sr)0.6Fe2O3 (magnet)) exhibit magnetic behavior
A comparative study of Metal and Ceramics
Metal Ceramics No Tensile Test for Ceramics
Properties (1040- (Silicon
Steel) nitride)
Density, g/cm3 7.850 3.200
Modulus, GPa 210 310
UTS / MOR, Mpa 500 300-850
Fracture Toughness,
140 4
Mpa, m1/2
Softening / Melting
1765 2173
Temp., K
Ceramic Structure
• More than one type of atoms (cations, anions).
• Complex structures, based on BCC, FCC, and HCP.
• Structures are named based on the first mineral that is discovered to
have the structure. (e.g., rocksalt structure)
• Have low packing density
Defects in Ceramic Structure
❑ Like metals, defects such as vacancies and substitutional atoms are present.
❑ Slip is difficult in polycrystalline ceramics, so defects have little effect on strength.
❑ But, defects have significant influence on electric properties.
Classification of Ceramics
POLYMERS
Introduction to Polymers
✓ Polymer is a large molecule consisting of repeated chemical units (‘mers’) joined together
✓ Polymers include the familiar plastic and rubber materials.
✓ Many of them are organic compounds that are chemically based on carbon, hydrogen, and
other nonmetallic elements (viz. O,N, and Si)
✓ Very large molecular structures. i.e. High molecular weight
✓ Familiar polymers: polyethylene (PE), nylon, poly vinyl chloride (PVC), polycarbonate (PC),
polystyrene (PS), and silicone rubber
PE PVC
✓ Low density
✓ Extremely ductile, which means they are easily formed into complex shapes
✓ Chemically inert and unreactive in a large number of environments.
✓ Major drawback to the polymers is their tendency to soften and/or decompose at
modest temperatures
✓ Low electrical conductivities
✓ Not as stiff nor as strong as Metal or Ceramics
Classification of Polymers
The four generic polymers are:
➢ Linear polymer - Any polymer in which molecules are in the form of spaghetti-
like chains.
➢ Thermoplastics (or, Plastics) - Linear or branched polymers in which chains of
molecules are not interconnected to one another. They softens on heating. E.g.,
polyethelene.
➢ Thermosetting polymers (or, Resins) - Polymers that are heavily cross-linked to
produce a strong three dimensional network structure. They will harden when two
components (resin and hardener) are heated together. E.g., epoxy.
➢ Elastomers (or, Rubbers) - These are either thermoplastics or lightly cross-linked
thermosets and that have more than 200% elastic deformation.
Mechanical Properties
General Characteristics: Summary
➢ Modulus of Elasticity: may be as low as 7
MPa or has high as 4x103 Mpa (compare to
48-410 x103 MPa for metals)
➢ Tensile Strength: about 100 MPa (metals up
to 4100 MPa)
➢ Elongation: often elongate plastically as much
as 1000% (compare to metals - rarely over
100%)
➢ Temperature Dependence: mechanical
properties are very T dependent – even close
to room T
➢ Strain Rate Dependence: same behavior as
raising temperature
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