International Standards for Properties and Performance of Advanced Ceramics – 30 Years of Excellence

Abstract

Mechanical and physical properties/performance of brittle bodies (e.g., advanced ceramics and glasses) can be difficult to measure correctly unless the proper techniques are used. For three decades, ASTM Committee C28 on Advanced Ceramics, has developed numerous full-consensus standards (e.g., test methods, practices, guides, terminology) to measure various properties and performance of a monolithic and composite ceramics and coatings that, in some cases, may be applicable to glasses. These standards give the "what, how, how not, why, why not, etc." for many mechanical, physical, thermal, properties and performance of advanced ceramics. Use of these standards provides accurate, reliable, repeatable and complete data. Involvement in ASTM Committee C28 has included users, producers, researchers, designers, academicians, etc. who write, continually update, and validate through round robin test programmes, more than 45 standards in the 30 years since the Committee's inception in 1986. Included in this poster is a pictogram of the ASTM Committee C28 standards and how to obtain them either as i) individual copies with full details or ii) a complete collection in one volume. A listing of other ASTM committees of interest is included. In addition, some examples of the tangible benefits of standards for advanced ceramics are employed to demonstrate their practical application. KEYWORDS -ceramics, composites, coatings, standards, characterizations, properties, measurements. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUNDIt is noteworthy that the 30 th anniversary year of ASTM Committee C28 "Advanced Ceramics," coincides with 40th International Conference and Expo on Advanced Ceramics and Composites. This is not mere happenstance but instead reflects the driving forces and visionaries of the early to mid 1980's who recognized that the time had come for ceramics to become commonly recognized, used, and fabricated among the four commonly accepted classes of engineering materials: Metals; Ceramics/Glasses; Polymers; Composites.Advanced ceramics is the accepted term in the United States for what are also known as engineering ceramics, structural ceramics, fine ceramics, and technical ceramics. By definition [1] an advanced ceramics is: a highly engineered, high performance, predominately non-metallic, inorganic, ceramic material having specific functional attributes. Historically, technological evolution has been the driver to push material performance requirements far beyond those normally satisfied by common engineering materials. As engineering demands for advanced technology applications increased, materials (including ceramics along with modern composites) were the enabling technology and as it turned out, standards and design codes, were the enabling supporting technologies.