Ceramic materials come in a variety of forms, from figurines and teacups to knife blades and industrial cutting tools. Morgan Advanced Materials plc, however, produces a different type of ceramic. Its P-59 ceramic core material, for improving jet engine fuel efficiency, is a breakthrough in the realm of high-stability materials, according to the company.

Morgan injection-molds porous ceramic cores for the investment casting industry, which are used as part of the investment casting lost-wax process, explained Evan Reed, sales manager for the company's New Jersey operations. The ceramic core is designed to have wax injected around it, and once the metal has been poured so solid metal surrounds the ceramic core, the core quickly dissolves. "By design, it's not strong, so, therefore, not useful for a lot of things that people are trying to do with ceramics," he said.

Yet P-59 reportedly provides critical benefits to the manufacturing of jet engine turbine blades, such as increased fuel efficiency. To achieve greater efficiency, engines must run at extremely high temperatures, which demands superior air cooling. One element required for effective air cooling is a small, thin, trailing-edge portion of the core, and P-59, with its fine particle size distribution, can achieve a trailing edge up to 20 percent thinner than that produced by other materials.

Reed noted P-59 can achieve a trailing edge that is 0.011 " (0.279mm) thick. Thinner edges are possible, but the current dimension is thin enough for engine manufacturers. Because jet fighters frequently fly in the Middle East, where there is a lot of sand, a trailing edge that is too thin can trap sand in the slot formed by the ceramic core, which causes problems.

Other than removal of the parting lines, the injection-mold cores do not require finishing. "The surface itself is relatively smooth because some of the finest particles migrate there," Reed said. "That's one of the reasons we have it as a matrix with a number of different particle sizes."

For more information about Morgan Advanced Materials plc, Windsor, U.K., call +01753-837000 or visit www.morganadvancedmater ials.com. CTE