Alumina Ceramaics – (Al2O3)
Alumina is the more common name of Aluminum Oxide (Al2O3). It is a hard-wearing technical ceramic offering an excellent combination of both mechanical and electrical properties. It is well-suited for a wide range of industrial applications.
Alumina features high hardness, wear resistance, low erosion levels, high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, and bio-inertness. Its high temperature stability and thermal conductivity make it particularly suitable for high temperature applications such as thermocouple protection in high temperature measurement. MIDDIA Ceramics offers a comprehensive range of advanced ceramic tubes and insulators for this purpose.
Alumina Ceramaic – (Al2O3)
Alumina is the more common name of Aluminum Oxide (Al2O3). It is a hard-wearing technical ceramic offering an excellent combination of both mechanical and electrical properties. It is well-suited for a wide range of industrial applications.
Alumina features high hardness, wear resistance, low erosion levels, high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, and bio-inertness. Its high temperature stability and thermal conductivity make it particularly suitable for high temperature applications such as thermocouple protection in high temperature measurement. MIDDIA Ceramics offers a comprehensive range of advanced ceramic tubes and insulators for this purpose.
Material Advantages
- Excellent electrical insulation properties
- High hardness and mechanical strength
- Wear and abrasion resistant
- High thermal conductivity and thermal shock resistance
- Low density
- Resistant to strong acid and alkali attack at high temperatures
- Transparent to microwave radio frequencies
- High compressive and dielectric strength
- Very specific thermal conductive and thermal expansion rates
Applications
Alumina is a very hard ceramic that is excellent at resisting abrasion and is ideal for wear-resistant inserts or products. It is commonly used as a high temperature electrical insulator, particularly the higher purity grades which offer better resistivity. It also offers good resistance to strong acids and alkalis at elevated temperatures, which makes it ideal for applications where resistance to corrosive substances is required. Some common applications include:
- Electronic components & substrates
- High temperature electrical insulators
- High voltage insulators
- Laser tubes
- Machine components
- Mechanical seals
- Precision shafts and axles in high wear environments
- Roller and ball bearings
- Seal rings
- Semiconductor parts
- Shot blast nozzles
- Thermocouple tubes
- Tap plates
- Valve seats
- Wear components
- Wire and thread guides
- Ballistic Armor
Alumina Machining
It can be injection molded, die pressed, isostatically pressed, slip cast, and extruded. Once fired and sintered, it can only be machined using diamond grinding methods. Advanced green and biscuit machining techniques developed by Precision Ceramics allow more complex components to be manufactured using traditional machining methods. In addition, Alumina can be readily joined to metals or other ceramics using metalizing and brazing techniques.
Alumina can be machined in green, biscuit, or fully dense states. While in the green or biscuit form, it can be machined relatively easily into complex geometries. However, the sintering process that is required to fully densify the material causes the alumina body to shrink approximately 20%. This shrinkage means that it is impossible to hold very tight tolerances when machining alumina pre-sintering. In order to achieve very tight tolerances, the fully sintered material must be machined/ground with diamond tools. In this manufacturing process, a very precise diamond coated tool/wheel is used to abrade away the material until the desired form is created. Due to the inherit toughness and hardness of the material, this can be a time consuming and costly process.
Precision Ceramics specializes in tight tolerance and highly complex work. We have extensive in-house machining facilities, including 4th & 5th axis machining centers, drilling, grinding, milling, polishing, sawing, tapping, threading and turning. This allows us to manufacture Alumina components to the highest specifications.
Precision Ceramics is your Alumina machining specialist for all your technical ceramic prototyping & manufacturing needs. We are always happy to use our many years of advanced ceramics experience to provide advice on materials, design, and application. If you would like to buy Alumina plates, rods, tubes or custom machined components, please contact us and one of our experts will be happy to assist you.
- Electronic components & substrates
- High temperature electrical insulators
- High voltage insulators
- Laser tubes
- Machine components
- Mechanical seals
- Precision shafts and axles in high wear environments
- Roller and ball bearings
- Seal rings
- Semiconductor parts
- Shot blast nozzles
- Thermocouple tubes
- Tap plates
- Valve seats
- Wear components
- Wire and thread guides
- Ballistic Armor