Advanced Structural Ceramics: Wear-Resistance, Tooling, Medical, Dental, Armor

Report Highlights

REPORT report_highlights

• The North American advanced structural ceramic market in 2005 is estimated to reach $2.3 billion and will expand at an average annual growth rate (AAGR) of 5.8% to reach $3 billion by 2010.
• Bioceramics represent the largest segment with 2005 sales estimated at $1.5 billion and climbing at an AAGR of 4.6%.
• Wear-resistant and cutting tool inserts constitute about 17% of the total market. Ceramic armors represent about 13% of the total market.
• Due to recent energy cost escalations, advanced ceramics could find more use as components for heat exchangers, recuperators and as solidoxide fuel cell elements.

INTRODUCTION

Advanced ceramic materials constitute a mature technology with a very broad base of current and potential applications and a growing list of material compositions. Advanced ceramics are inorganic, nonmetallic materials with combinations of fine-scale microstructures, purity, complex compositions and crystal structures, and accurately controlled additives. Such materials require a level of processing science and engineering far beyond that used in making conventional ceramics.

Within the advanced ceramics category, structural ceramics are wear-resistant, corrosion- resistant and lightweight materials, and are superior to many materials with regard to stability in high-temperature environments. Because of this combination of properties, advanced structural ceramics have an especially high potential to resolve a wide number of today's material challenges in process industries, power generation, aerospace, transportation and military applications.

This BCC technical/economic study covers material types, production techniques, current and emerging production methods, the road map for structural ceramic developments, current and emerging applications, and industry and market analysis of the various market segments. Current market size and future growth are estimated for the period 2005 to 2010. The report profiles all U.S. companies that produce and supply advanced structural ceramic components and ceramic powders.

SCOPE OF STUDY

The report contains:

• An overview of the various advanced ceramic materials and their production technologies and applications
• Identification of the technological and issues related to commercial production and use
• A determination of the current market size and future growth for applications in tool inserts, wear-resistant components, energy and hightemperature resistant components, aircraft and aerospace components, military, bioceramics and finally, auto and turbine engine components
• A determination of the current market size and future growth of alumina-based, zirconia, silicon carbide, boron carbide, silicon nitride, titanium diboride, glass and glass-ceramics and other categories.
• Identification and profiles all North American producers of structural ceramic components

METHODOLOGY AND INFORMATION SOURCES

The findings of this report are based on information derived from interviews with many developers, producers and potential producers of advanced structural ceramic components, producers of ceramic powders, industry experts, and those conducting research and development in monolithic ceramic and ceramic matrix composites. In addition, many end users were contacted to evaluate the current and future demand for structural ceramic components. In all, about 250 persons from over 200 companies and institutions were contacted for this study.

Secondary data were obtained from trade publications, technical journals, government statistics, and the BCC database.

ANALYST CREDENTIALS

Dr. Thomas Abraham is Vice President for Research at the Communications Co., (BCC) a market and industry analysis company in Norwalk, CT. Since 1986, Dr. Abraham has been directing the market and industry analysis of advanced ceramics and related areas at BCC. In this capacity, Dr. Abraham has conducted industry and market analysis studies on "advanced ceramics," "fine and nano ceramic powders," "advanced structural ceramics," "wear-resistant ceramic products," "advanced glasses," "piezoelectric materials," "carbon/graphite fibers," "high-performance fibers," "ceramic matrix composites," "ceramic coatings," "rapidly solidified materials," "electronic ceramics," "abrasives," "industrial diamonds and diamond films," and "soft and hard magnets." these studies have been used by all major corporations, national laboratories and government agencies all over the world. Dr. Abraham is also editor of a monthly publication, High-Tech Ceramics News. A graduate of Columbia University, Dr. Abraham had worked earlier for the University of Denver and Brookhaven National Laboratory.

One of the most important studies Dr. Abraham undertook was for the Office of Technology Assessment of the U.S. Congress on the "Strategies for Advanced Ceramic Materials in the U.S." Dr. Abraham has also conducted technology transfer and commercialization studies for several companies and major laboratories. Dr. Abraham's advanced ceramics market studies have been extensively used by the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Mines, in its publication, "The New Materials Society - Challenges and Opportunities," Vol. 1, 1990.

Dr. Abraham has been a frequent invited speaker on the state of the advanced material industries at the American Ceramic Society meetings (Cocoa Beach, Florida, January 1993 & 1996 and Cincinnati, Ohio, April 1993 & 1995), IMAT (Bologna, Italy, June 1992), 8th & 9th Cimtec World Ceramic Congress (Florence, Italy, July 1994 and June 1998), the National Defense University (March 1993 & 1996), Soft Magnetic Materials '96 (San Francisco, February 1996), Diamond and Diamond-Like Thin Films (Atlanta, March 1996 and Auburn, August 2001), Fifth International Conference on Plasma Surface Engineering (Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, September 1996), ASM International Materials Week (St. Louis, Missouri, October 2000), Nano Alliance Conference (New York, May 2002 and June 2003), Metal Powder Industries Federation International Conference (Las Vegas, June 2003), TMS Annual Meeting (Charlotte, NC, March 2004) and Clarkson University Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) Symposium (Lake Placid, NY, August 2004). Dr. Abraham also serves as the Co-Chairman of Nanomaterials Conference, an annual BCC conference.