Ceramics are now in widespread use in the engineering industry in areas as varied as ball bearings, screws and bolts, ceramic springs, ceramic heating elements or bands and weaving parts.

Materials as diverse as silicium carbide, used for lining assemblies, or zirconia, used in making screws and bolts, have recently been successfully utilized.

Micromechanics is one of the areas where we see growing enthusiasm today for replacing small metal parts weighing a few grams with ceramic parts, generally in alumina or zirconia.

The development of certain CIM-type technologies has made it possible to develop small-sized solid ceramic parts (possibly coloured) intended for the most diverse uses (injection nozzles, small lining assemblies…).

The high-tech industry is a major consumer of ceramic elements (high-speed pins, semiconductors, vacuum equipment, medical equipment).

Today advanced ceramics are increasingly utilized in the engineering industry for multi-material solutions combining ceramics with other metallic-type materials (hard nickel, chromium alloy cast iron, steel alloy, alloy with additions of cobalt nickel or carbides).

The recent spike in prices of raw materials such as nickel and cobalt have increased the use of ceramic solutions, including in making heavy parts. Carbides are today commonly used in making cutting or shaping tools. Oxides, nitrides and cermets have also advanced significantly in recent years because of a combination of excellent properties of resistance to wear, good chemical resistance and good high-temperature mechanical properties.

Composite ceramics reinforced by SiAlON whiskers are used in high-speed machining because of their good resistance to deformation. They allow the machining of materials that are generally difficult to machine, like the super alloys or certain types of cast iron.