Design practice

Presently, however, the improvement to more traditional materials, e.g. metals, are such that new ceramics have a serious problem in making themselves acceptable alternatives. In spite of the generally high level of skills available to make ceramics, to bond them to metals and to achieve well con­ trolled surface finishes, besides the under­ standing of the behaviour of the materials under service conditions, it can be conclu­ ded that the introduction in technological structures intended for mass production is seriously behind schedule. But this should not lead to the conclusion that interest in engineering ceramics is reducing. Defect control and reliability during fabrication deserve more attention, along with promoting a willingness to accept materials which still have a lower reliability level than metals. In this respect, the particular advantages of ceramics such as chemical or thermal resistance and wear properties, are presently in an exploratory stage over a broad range of applications. Slightly out­ side the scope of the workshop, it was emphasized that in the process industry and activities related to energy production and the environment, a number of applica­ tions of advanced ceramics are within reach. These applications often involve porous ceramic materials to control pro­ cesses and fulfill tasks involving separa­ tion and clearing.