Ceramic engine

[Cordor]

How good is ceramic engine? and is there anyone actually using it in real life?

[YT2095]

I`ve never heard of an entire engine made of this, but certainly Piston heads, and we all know spark plugs use it structuraly.

 

Interesting idea, but wouldn`t it be a bit more costly than conventional engines and almost certainly more difficult to "Fix" without some new Welding or Glue technology?

[Cordor]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceramics#Other_applications_of_ceramics

 

found this

[Phi for All]

It would require an entire refit for repair tools as well. I have a ceramic kitchen knife I love but I have to use a diamond wheel to sharpen it.

 

Interesting technology, costs will come down once it becomes more standardized, but there is that fracture factor to overcome, that's pretty dangerous. You'd need some serious scanning for imperfections.

 

I like the weight reduction and no cooling requirements. I hope more research is poured into this since there are many applications for it.

[insane_alien]

i think a new tougher ceramic would need to be found and made cheaply for this to work as i understand the ceramics can be quite fragile. on the roads where i live a ceramic engine would disintegrate at the first pothole(then again so do most metalic parts my mum has lost 3 axels 5 exhaust pipes and a radiator going over some of them although not all at the one time.)

[YT2095]

(then again so do most metalic parts my mum has lost 3 axels 5 exhaust pipes and a radiator going over some of them although not all at the one time.)

 

you neglected to mention that she was in Poll Position at the Indianapolis 500 though

[Phi for All]

i think a new tougher ceramic would need to be found and made cheaply for this to work as i understand the ceramics can be quite fragile.

Cast correctly with no flaws, ceramic is tough enough now. It's making sure no fractures exist after manufacturing that is the problem. Costs would come down quite a bit in mass production.

on the roads where i live a ceramic engine would disintegrate at the first pothole(then again so do most metalic parts my mum has lost 3 axels 5 exhaust pipes and a radiator going over some of them although not all at the one time.)

But none of those are engine parts that would be made from ceramic except the radiator, which is part of the cooling system and wouldn't be needed.

 

Is there really that much weight savings between aluminum and ceramics or is it mostly doing away with the cooling system?

[LCD]

In a car thats one thing, but I think their applications would be better suited for parts in power plants or perhaps turbine-based engines.

[jgerlica]

Is there really that much weight savings between aluminum and ceramics or is it mostly doing away with the cooling system?

 

Any weight reduction without the tendency of aluminum to warp would be welcomed.

[flyboy]

a ceramic turbine engine would be worse....do u kno how much stress and wear is put on the turbine blades along with the intense heat? somthing ceramic would turn to dust or explode

[ed84c]

A turbine engine in a power plant would explode if ceramic as the blades on the outside pass thorugh the sound barrier.

[LCD]

yeah you're probably right :/

[d22k]

actually, ceramic blases are used in the turbine fins of top of the range turbos...

[MIG]

It's possible but i think it will be better in fuel cell application