Ceramic and glass manufacturers Ohio bound

Steel | Automobiles | Aerospace Energy | Biomedicine

What do these have in common? They all are manufacturing industries in Cleveland, Ohio. In addition, they all depend one way or another on engineered ceramics and glasses.

So, when organizers of Ceramics Expo (CEX)—a new manufacturing trade show—went hunting for a site to establish the new show, they quickly realized Cleveland is located ideally in the center of the manufacturing Midwest. They also quickly realized that the city is leveraging its steelmaking and automaking acumen into new industries, such as energy and biomedicine. Cleveland knows manufacturing!

Ceramics Expo debuts April 28–30, 2015, in Cleveland, Ohio. Organizers selected the site because of its central location to manufacturing in the Midwest that is both convenient and accessible. The event presents a perfect opportunity for CEOs, production and technical directors, lead engineers, project managers, and buyers to explore the latest innovations and research in this exciting and constantly evolving industry.

The inaugural Ceramics Expo promises to take the ceramic and glass industry to a new level. “Ceramics Expo establishes a crucial marketplace for ceramic and glass manufacturing and supply chain products and services under one roof,” says Charlie Spahr, ACerS executive director.

ACerS is a founding partner in the new event organized by U.K. based Smarter Shows, a group that specializes in organizing advanced engineering trade shows. Adam Moore, Smarter Shows event director, says, “The ceramics industry in North America is set for huge growth as the range and depth of applications for advanced ceramic and glass materials increases. Ceramics Expo will be a catalyst for that growth, and the uptake in booth space from some of the biggest players in the industry is testament to that.”

The Expo provides a unique showcase for all raw materials, equipment, machinery, and technology that comprise the ceramics industry supply chain. The show is completely free to attend for all visitors. The venue, Cleveland’s IX Center, is 10 minutes from Cleveland Hopkins International airport and an easy drive from Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana, New York, and all points in Ohio.

Besides showcasing vendors involved in manufacture of advanced ceramics, composites, and glasses, the Expo will feature a free-to-attend conference with two tracks. In one track, speakers will focus on improvements for manufacturing ceramic and glass components. In the other track, speakers will turn their attention to applications for advanced ceramics and glasses.

Visitors can expect a full and varied program, including the opportunity to meet with all major suppliers in the exhibition hall and hear a comprehensive line-up of top industry speakers.

Meanwhile, enjoy this preview of several companies that will be at CEX. Visit the website, www.ceramicsexpousa.com, for a full list of exhibitors, forum details, and the latest event news.

“The ceramics industry in North America is set for huge growth,”—Adam Moore, Smarter Shows

Exhibitor Focus

Game-changing machining technology

CEX will be the World Debut of iMachining for Ceramics, a game-changing technology for precision shaping of ceramics and other extremely hard materials. iMachining for Ceramics, from SolidCAM (Atlanta, Ga.), will take center stage with live exhibitions of machining fully sintered ceramics at unprecedented volumetric material removal rates, while maintaining ultra-high levels of structural integrity and geometric accuracy. The demonstrations will show new levels of speed, accuracy, ease-of-use, affordability—and profitability—for ceramic production.

SolidCAM will display its Turnkey Ceramics production system featuring the company’s cutting edge CAM Software, G.W. Schultz’s patent pending tools for cutting ceramics, Blurry Custom’s purpose-built ceramics CNC machine, and an innovative fluid filtration setup. A leading nondestructive evaluation company will round out the team at CEX.

Bringing several technology partners together, SolidCAM discovered that integrating interdependent technologies dramatically improves the cycle time for precision machining of extremely hard materials. Preliminary testing yielded consistent cycle time improvements ranging from 20 to 40 times faster than traditional machining methods. One test of fully sintered aluminum oxide, dropped 10 hours of machining time to a mere 20 minutes. All indicators point to even greater improvements as SolidCAM and its partners continue to improve the process.

www.solidcam.com

Visit Solidcam at booth 301

Imported from France

Alteo produces specialty aluminas destined principally for applications such as electronics, wear and corrosion resistance products, catalytic substrates, and tiles. Alteo aluminas also find use in refractories, abrasives, specialty glasses, and the chemicals industry.

Although the company’s headquarters and largest production site is in Gardanne, France, 80% of its sales occur outside France. Alteo has three commercial hubs located in primary global manufacturing zones—Europe, Asia, and North America (sales office is in Cleveland, Ohio)—to actively support business development with new and existing customers. In addition, maintaining selected local inventories allows Alteo to offer high-quality service, ensuring supplies and reducing lead times to customers.

Strengthened by its experience and know-how in the alumina industry, the group has invested substantially in people, equipment, and new products to ensure the highest levels of quality and customer service.
Through its customer technical support group and R&D capabilities, Alteo works closely with clients and prospects to accelerate product improvements and the creation of new ones perfectly customized to an application’s needs.

www.alteo-alumina.com

Visit Alteo at booth 328

Chemistry set

Specialty chemicals and engineered polymers provider BassTech (Fort Lee, N.J.) recently entered into a distribution partnership with Germany-based Dorfner Group to serve customers in North America. Dorfner’s unique kaolin and crystalline quartz sand-based functional fillers are used worldwide in industrial flooring, paint and coatings, building materials, sanitaryware, and composite materials.

BassTech has been the exclusive agent in North America for Chemische Fabrik Budenheim’s technical grade metal phosphates for over twenty years. Budenheim developed an extensive line of specialty phosphate binders and deflocculants for the ceramic industry.

The company recently completed construction of a state-of-the-art laboratory in its European office. This lab will be used to perform polymer testing and bitumen modification developments. New instruments in the lab include: mixing units for bitumen blending and high-shear blending; ring and ball apparatus; high-temperature furnace for ash content; hot air oven; temperate water bath; penetration apparatus; cryostat for cold flex testing; fluorescence microscope; Brookfield rotary viscosity apparatus; density measurement tools; melt flow measurement apparatus; and differential scanning calorimetry analyzer.

www.basstechintl.com

Visit BassTech International at booth 134

Glass for everything but the ceiling

Corning Incorporated (Corning, N.Y.) specializes in developing specialty glass, ceramics, and optical materials products.

Businesses and markets evolve constantly. Corning anchors its success in sustained investment in R&D, a unique combination of materials and process innovation, and close collaboration with customers. The company’s customers come from such diverse industries as consumer electronics, telecommunications, transportation, and life sciences. Products manufactured with Corning glasses include damage-resistant smartphone and tablet covers, precision glass for advanced displays, optical fiber and wireless technologies, and connectivity solutions for high-speed communications networks. The pharmaceutical industry relies on Corning products to accelerate drug discovery and manufacturing. Beyond specialty glasses, Corning manufactures emissions-control products for cars, trucks, and off-road vehicles.

www.corning.com

Visit Corning at booth 123

Components made to measure

Du-Co Ceramics Company (Saxonburg, Pa.) manufactures technical ceramic products for a global customer base requiring precision-made components produced from a variety of ceramic materials. The company operates two ISO 9001-2008-certified production facilities in Saxonburg, Pa., and Monroe, N.C..

Du-Co produces custom precision ceramic insulators of steatite, cordierite, porcelain, magnesium oxide, aluminum oxide, mullite, and forsterite. The company’s manufacturing capabilities include dry pressing, extrusion, secondary machining, glazing, and both centerless and flat grinding. By investing in the finest equipment, Du-Co produces high-quality ceramics at competitive prices and in quantities customers require. In addition Du-Co offers its engineering abilities to help with design and material selection for customers’ unique applications.

www.du-co.com

Visit Du-Co at booth 129

Taking the heat

Advanced materials technology company Morgan Advanced Materials (Windsor, U.K.) operates in more than 50 countries around the globe. Its products are used in medical instruments, aerospace, power generation, satellite communications, body armor, trains, and fire protection systems.

The company produces a wide range of specialized, high-specification ceramics and carbon materials in various shapes, forms, and properties. These products deliver enhanced performance, often under extreme conditions. Materials such as advanced ceramics, braze alloys, carbon brushes, and composites are used in defense systems, fire protection, high-temperature insulation, linear transfer systems, molten metal systems, rotary transfer, seals and bearings, sensors, and transducers.

The company will highlight its thermal ceramics products, such as high-temperature insulation used in power generation, petrochemical furnace and boiler applications, braze alloy ceramic applications, and technical ceramics for the medical and renewable energy markets.

www.morganadvancedmaterials.com

Visit Morgan Advanced Materials at booth 217

A glass act

Mo-Sci Corporation (Rolla, Mo.) manufactures high-quality precision glasses, such as glass microspheres, fibers, and frit, which have many uses including internationally recognized healthcare applications.

For example, Mo-Sci porous silica (frit or spheres) with an open porosity of ~45% resists acidic conditions. Porous-wall, hollow glass microspheres provide a porous shell for introducing or releasing liquids.

Engineers at Mo-Sci specialize in taking customers’ seemingly improbable ideas to research and develop into an application for them to market.

Mo-Sci grew out of an idea originating in 1985 with company founder, Delbert Day, Curators Professor Emeritus in materials science and engineering, at Missouri University of Science and Technology, also in Rolla. The company started as a supplier of glass and ceramic products for niche applications that could not support the normal volume requirements of the glass industry. The company has since grown into the global supplier it is today.

www.mo-sci.com

Visit Mo-Sci at booth 116

Delivering a perfect finish

Built to meet growing demand for ultra-precision surface finishing in the telecommunication, semiconductor, communications, microelectronics, medical, defense, optical, and security markets, Centerline Technologies’ (Hudson, Mass.) systems achieve extremely tight tolerances, repeatability, and consistency. Services include grinding, lapping, polishing, diamond saw cutting, and laser machining of a wide variety of metals, ceramics, sapphire, and other materials.

Consistency of products delivered to customers reflect quality. Each piece must be precisely machined to meet customer specifications. Parts are tested and measured to ensure product performance.

www.centerlinetech-usa.com

Visit Centerline Technologies at booth 437

Customized kiln design

Harper International (Buffalo, N.Y.) designs complete thermal processing solutions and technical services for manufacturing advanced materials, including custom designed rotary, pusher, and belt conveyor furnaces. The company’s experience spans a range of engineering ceramics, including designing furnaces for silicon nitride, tungsten carbide, boron nitride, and alumina production. Customers use Harper kilns to calcine powders and sinter components such as thermistors, varistors, and monolithic and multilayer capacitors. Harper works with customers to develop furnace technologies with improved flexibility and operating efficiencies and equipment control to scale-up production rates successfully.

www.harperintl.com

Visit Harper International at booth 326

All in the mix

Eirich Machines (Gurnee, Ill.) recently introduced a new generation of mixers. These mixers incorporate numerous design and construction improvements over earlier models. Adding a new protective enclosure on the side of mixers completely isolates mixer drives from operator contact and also keeps equipment free from dirt and dust. As with all Eirich mixers, this new generation mixer can handle all applications and material consistencies ranging from powder, granular, or liquid as well as any viscous material.

Eirich supplies pan-type mixers with batch capacities ranging from 0.4 ft³ to 425 ft³ for both batch and continuous operations. The Eirich mixing tool can operate at speeds ranging between 2 m/s and 40 m/s, offering unlimited control over the power input into the mix. The company’s mixing principle with rotating mixing pan and counter-rotating mixing tools provides a high degree of mixing quality.

Eirich will have its EL1 lab size unit running to demonstrate a unique mixing principle. The EL1, newly released by Eirich, is a small size mixer with full-size technology, incorporating mixing, pelletizing, granulating, coating, kneading, and dispersing in one unit. The company looks forward to discussing visitors’ process requirements and ways Eirich can help with even the most difficult mix applications.

www.eirich.com

Visit Eirich Machines at booth 118

Great and small

Ceramics with nanostructured grain sizes show improved structural properties, such as hardness, flexural strength, and thermal shock resistance. Through a unique, state-of-the-art manufacturing technology—emulsion detonation synthesis (EDS)—Innovnano (Antanhol, Portugal) produces homogeneous nanostructured powders with uniform chemical distribution for guaranteed high powder performance and consistency.

At Ceramics Expo, Innovnano will exhibit its aluminium-doped zinc oxide (AZO) sputter coating targets, available in two- and three-inch diameters. Raw AZO powder has small grain sizes and high reactivity, enabling the production of full density targets at lower sintering temperatures to minimize grain growth. These sputtering targets offer improved thermal and mechanical properties for depositing high-performance coatings or films such as transparent conducting oxides (TCOs), which can be used to produce highly efficient photovoltaic cells. As such, AZO offers an effective, lower-cost alternative to indium tin oxide, the current “gold standard” material for TCOs.

Innovnano also will bring to the show its high-quality, nanostructured monoclinic zirconia and other nanostructured powders, ideal for use as dopants in zirconia filters for steel foundries. The nanostructured zirconia acts as a binder, allowing filters to better resist physical wear and disintegration from heat, and therefore improve component lifetime. Innovnano’s other nanostructured powders, for example 3 mol.% yttria stabilized zirconia, are ideal for hot press and hot isostatic pressing applications.

www.innovnano-materials.com

Visit Innovnano at booth 241

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Free-to-attend conference overview

A concurrent technical conference—also free to attend—will run in the exhibition hall alongside the three-day Ceramics Expo 2015. Expert speakers will tackle the most critical issues impacting advanced ceramics, composites, and glass manufacturing communities.  In a second track on the agenda, experts from industry will speak on  advanced ceramic, composite, and glass properties for industry applications.

A combination of keynote presentations, in-depth case studies, and interactive panel discussions will draw on a range of perspectives to complement the technology showcase on the exhibition floor and deliver high value to attendees. Attendees should come prepared to ask pressing questions regarding their business investments and will come away better informed for making key decisions. Speakers will present their perspectives as industry users, manufacturing leaders, technology innovators, and academics.

The 2015 conference will focus on four high-impact, innovative areas of research, development, and applications for 2015:

1. Transportation – Consumer demands and regulations push automotive and aerospace manufacturers to design vehicles with higher energy efficiency, lower emissions, and improved safety. Advanced ceramic materials and technologies can assist in a myriad of developments from multifunctional sensors to LED headlamps and jet engine components.
2. Energy – Nearly every segment of an ‘energy’ supply chain from harvesting to delivery relies in some way on ceramic and glass materials. The area comprises materials used in the generation, storage, and delivery of energy, including renewable energy, batteries and energy storage, oil and gas, and nuclear.
3. Sustainability in manufacturing – Energy costs and stricter emissions targets put increasing pressure on manufacturers across all industries, especially in energy-intensive sectors such as steelmaking, glassmaking, chemical processing, and petrochemicals. The ceramics industry, with its products for high-temperature manufacturing, knows how to help manufacturers manage and reduce energy and maintenance costs.
4.  Specialty ceramic and glass manufacturing – From smartphones to miles of optical fiber for communications lines to curved “flat screen” displays, glass is being manufactured like never before to create the most advanced glasses for a wide variety of applications.

Visit www.ceramicsexpo.com/program for more information on the free-to-attend Ceramics Expo 2015 conference agenda and speaker line-up.