Mechanical Applications

Although glass and ceramics are brittle, they can be surprisingly strong and are often used as mechanical components. In most applications the applied loads are low and the materials are used for their other properties such as transparency, electrical or vacuum performance.

Examples include:

Calibration standard

Standards can be made of zero thermal expansion glass ceramic so that they are mechanically unaffected by temperature changes.

Precision ceramic balls are used as physical calibration standards.

Quartz bearing rods

Ground and polished rods are used in high-accuracy bearing systems because quartz has a very low coefficient of thermal expansion.

Body armor

Alumina plates are used in personal body armor.

Element holders

Ceramic performs well at high temperature and is used for holding electrical elements.