1. Applications

After the “boom” of the 1980s, technical ceramics enjoyed a major breakthrough in engineering, albeit a rather discreet one. None of the initial projects, particularly in ceramic engines or turbines, led to industrial applications, even though experimenters had demonstrated the advantages of using ceramics. The additional costs, and even the reliability problems, remained prohibitive. On the other hand, ceramics are now present in other markets, historically dominated by other materials. For these applications, the switch to ceramics has led to performance gains that have enabled them to gradually gain a foothold.

If technical ceramics have been able to penetrate the industrial and even domestic world, it is above all thanks to their anti-wear/anti-friction functionality, but also to their resistance to corrosion and/or a combination of these two properties....