Metal Like Ceramic
MLC - Metal Like Ceramic
where ceramic meets steel
Learn more about the new patented material, which combines the advantages of ceramic and steel for the first time.
We produce our unique
ceramic material (MLC)
and related ceramic components
in Germany (Made in Germany).
This ceramic material
is providing the ability to produce according to your
drawings
or your requested
standard parts a
wide variety of components
like: Ceramic Balls,
Ceramic Balls for ball bearings (up to grade 5),
Ceramic Cylindrical Rollers (grade G1/G2),
Ceramic Needle Rollers,
Ceramic Drawing Dies,
Ceramic Plain Bearing Components,
Ceramic Nozzles
or
Ceramic Valve Discs.
Our unique ceramic material is based on a polymeric material which will be combined with active and passive fillers in the course of pre-production. This material combination is providing the ability to produce high precise, near net shape and economically priced "green" components. To produce the base material we use extrusion or alternatively injection moulding. The base material (bars or rods) is then machined (turning, milling etc.) or alternatively pressed in dies which are printed on a 3D-Printer in-house. Thereafter the components have to be heat treated. The volume shrinkage in this heat treatment process is only about 5 - 8 %, which can already be taken into account during the first shaping.
For high-precision functional surfaces the ceramic material can also be finally machined (grinding, finishing) without much effort based on its hardness of 950 to 1000 HV10 just above the hardness of steel. Our Material MLC makes it possible for the first time to combine the advantages of ceramic material with steel-like material characteristics. At the same time, a significantly greater variety of geometries can be achieved than with classical ceramics, even for small series production.
Our unique ceramic material is based on a polymeric material which will be combined with active and passive fillers in the course of pre-production. This material combination is providing the ability to produce high precise, near net shape and economically priced "green" components. To produce the base material we use extrusion or alternatively injection moulding. The base material (bars or rods) is then machined (turning, milling etc.) or alternatively pressed in dies which are printed on a 3D-Printer in-house. Thereafter the components have to be heat treated. The volume shrinkage in this heat treatment process is only about 5 - 8 %, which can already be taken into account during the first shaping.
For high-precision functional surfaces the ceramic material can also be finally machined (grinding, finishing) without much effort based on its hardness of 950 to 1000 HV10 just above the hardness of steel. Our Material MLC makes it possible for the first time to combine the advantages of ceramic material with steel-like material characteristics. At the same time, a significantly greater variety of geometries can be achieved than with classical ceramics, even for small series production.
Advantages
- Near-net-shape production
- Cost-optimized processing
- Pore-free production
- High sliding capability
(without lubricants) - High freedom of design
- High temperature resistance
- Capability of high loads
- High Hardness
- 50 % reduction in weight
(compared to steel) - Production in small series
The material
| Material characteristics | Silizium-Nitrid | MLC | bearing steel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freedom of design | -- | ++ | ++ |
| Mechanical machinability | -- | + | ++ |
| Corrosion resistance | ++ | ++ | -- |
| wear resistance | ++ | ++ | - |
| Maximum operating temperature / °C | 800 | 800 | 200 |
| Rolling strength / MPa | >2.000 | >2.000 | |
| Young's modulus / GPa | 320 | 200 | 210 |
| Hardness / HV10 | 1.400 | 1.000 | 750 |
| Fracture toughness / MPa√m | 5 | 4 | 15 |
| 4-point bending strength / MPa | 600 | 400 | (2.400) |
| Porosity / % | < 1 % | < 1 % | |
| Density / (g/cm3) | 3,2 | 3,6 | 7,8 |
| Specific electrical resistance / Ωm | 1e12 | 1e-3 | 1e-7 |
| Thermal expansion coefficient / (10-6/K) | 3,5 | 8 | 11,5 |
| Thermal conductivity / (W/mK) | 30 | 15 | 45 |
Fields of application
Possible applications are e.g:
- Clean room & vacuum, corrosive and polluted environments
- bad lubrication conditions
- Printed circuit board and semiconductor manufacturing
- food, textile, welding
- Electronics & mechatronics
- Measurement & testing technology, copier
- Lightweight construction, medical technology, extruders, injection molding machines, ...