Alumina ceramics are:

• the most versatile of the advanced technical ceramics
• stronger than the traditional ceramics
• chemically inert - excellent corrosion resistance
• outstanding electrical insulators, even at very high temperatures
• extremely hard - excellent abrasion resistance
• are almost unaltered at 1000°C
• useable up to 1700°

Our product range includes:

• solid electrolyte oxygen sensors
• laboratory crucibles
• low wear clutch parts
• wire guides
• furnace components
• thermocouple components
• bearings
• water knife nozzles
• radar insulators

See some examples of interesting applications.

Alumina Product Range

• lances and sparges
• air-cooled heat shields for instrumentation in the steel industry
• spray nozzles for hot concentrated acid
• precision ground spacers for refractory testing
• ball mills and attritors for use at 1000°C
• cutters for glass capillaries

Zirconia ceramics

• are tougher and more impact resistant
• very corrosion resistant
• abrasion resistant
• suitable for high temperatures

Zirconia Product Range

• tubes, single or multiple bore
• rod and bar
• crucibles
• general laboratory ware

Furnace tubes

All our furnace tubes are a special creep-resistant grade suitable for use over 1700°C.
The standard length is 1000 mm.
All of these tubes are gas tight.
We can supply furnace tubes with the ends accurately ground to suit O-ring seals for a small additional charge.

Our standard sizes (outside diameter x inside diameter) are:
89x80, 84x75, 80x70, 74x63, 70x60, 60x50, 60x53, 50x40, 46x40
Please also enquire for custom sizes.

Laboratory Ware

• A wide range of crucibles from 25 microlitre to 4.0 litre, both cylindrical and conical
• Lids are available for most of these sizes Combustion boats from 1 millilitre to 200 millilitre
• Dishes from 10 millilitre to 1 litre, both circular and rectangular

Please see a complete list of our laboratory ware.

Small tubes

• Tubes in sizes from 2 mm outside diameter up to 24 mm, in lengths up to 1400mm.
• Multibore tubes with 2, 3 or four holes to suit all common thermocouple wire sizes.
• Closed end tubes, suitable for thermocouple sheaths, in many sizes up to 12 mm diameter and 1300 mm long.

Rod and bar

• Solid rod from 1mm to 12 mm
• Flat bar up to 24 mm wide and 6 mm thick
• Lengths up to 1400 mm.

Please see a complete list of our tube, rod and bar products.

Tiles

Dense, high strength tiles for abrasion resistance, armour plate, reaction trays etc.

Our standard sizes are:

• 75 x 75 x 8
• 115 x 115 x 10
• 175 x 175 x 10
• 150 x 100 x 10

We can also make sizes from a few mm up to 175 x 175 mm, up to 12 mm thick, square, rectangular or circular.

Hearth tiles

Hearth tiles are used to protect the expensive base of fibre lined kilns from corrosive spills. They are made of porous, coarse grain 99% alumina and in a range of sizes up to 300mm x 300mm, as flat tiles or shallow trays.

Availability & Ordering

Our range of high purity alumina laboratory ware is normally available from stock. Please e-mail us or use our Enquiry Form for the sizes and quantity you need. We also have a complete design service for custom-made components. Our tooling costs are low, for economical short runs.

Fabrication Methods

• Slip Casting - suitable for hollow shapes, such as dishes or tapered tubes.
• Extrusion - we have a huge range of dies for rods, tubes and bars.
• Injection Moulding - for small complex shapes.
• Machining - almost any of our products can be drilled, ground, sawn, or lapped. We have a complete diamond machining workshop.

The tooling costs for these processes are low, so that short runs for small quantities can be made economically. We also have the capacity for large volume repetition work. A variety of surface finishes are possible, including ground, lapped or super finished to better than 0.02 micrometre.

We can also fabricate special items from Zircar fibrous ceramic insulating materials or from Aremco machineable ceramics.

See some interesting applications of alumina ceramics.

Design guidelines for ceramic components

These pointers will help to provide you with the highest possible performance at the lowest possible price.

• Avoid tensile loads.
• Avoid abrupt changes in wall thickness.
• All notches, projections and concave corners should be bevelled or radiused.
• Keep tolerances as open as possible.

Please ask for detailed advice about your design.