Ceramics & Advanced Ceramics Testing Laboratories
Advanced ceramics are brittle, flaw-sensitive materials, so testing focuses on strength distributions, fracture toughness, thermal behaviour and the microstructure that controls them. Typical programmes combine mechanical testing (flexural strength, hardness, fracture toughness), thermal testing (expansion, conductivity, thermal shock), phase and microstructure analysis (XRD, SEM/EDS, porosity and density) and fractography to locate the critical flaw.
What does it measure?
- Flexural (bend) strength and Weibull strength distribution
- Fracture toughness, hardness and elastic modulus
- Thermal expansion, thermal conductivity and thermal-shock resistance
- Density, open porosity and grain size
- Crystalline phase identification (XRD) and composition (SEM/EDS, XRF)
- Dielectric and electrical properties of electronic and piezoelectric ceramics
- Wear and abrasion resistance
When is it used?
- Qualifying a new powder, supplier or sintering process
- Cracked or fractured ceramic components in service or production
- Ceramic coatings and thermal-barrier coatings that spall or delaminate
- Refractory linings failing early
- Additive-manufactured ceramics requiring property verification
- Bioceramic and electronic-ceramic component qualification
Sample considerations
- Strength testing needs enough specimens for a statistical distribution — ask how many the method and your purpose require.
- Specimen machining affects strength; state whether the laboratory or you will prepare bars.
- For fractures, send all fragments, handled minimally and not reassembled.
Questions to ask a laboratory
- Do you machine ceramic specimens in-house, and to what surface finish?
- Which fracture toughness technique do you use and why?
- Can you perform fractography to identify the strength-limiting flaw?
- Can you test at elevated temperature?
Laboratories with relevant capabilities
- Lucideon (Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire) — Ceramics Testing, Materials Characterization, Chemical Analysis
- Touchstone Research Laboratory (WV) — Ceramics Testing, Mechanical Testing, Composites Testing
Frequently asked questions
- Why do ceramic strength results vary so much?
- Ceramic strength is controlled by the largest flaw in the stressed volume, so results form a distribution. That is why methods call for multiple specimens and Weibull analysis rather than a single value.
- What can fractography tell me?
- Examining the fracture surface can locate the origin — a pore, inclusion, machining damage or contact damage — which points to whether the cause is material, processing or service.