Facilities

High Temperature Vacuum Sintering Furnace for Sintering of Non-Oxide Ceramics The vacuum sintering furnace is used for both pre-sintering operation to burn out the binder through the inclinator and for final sintering. This is the largest high temperature vacuum sintering furnace available in India. Specifications Maximum operating temperature: 2300°C Ultimate Vacuum: 1x10-3 Torr Heating Method: resistance heating, graphite hot-zone and graphite heating elements
High Tonnage Uni-axial Hydraulic press This uni-axial hydraulic press is used for making ceramic and powder metallurgy compacts. This hydraulic press is custom built to make specific non-oxide ceramic parts for critical application. It has got vast day-light with adjustable ram speed movement to achieve good compacts. In addition to that, the press also has ejector with moving table for the removal of compacted parts from the die components. Specifications Table Size: 1600 mm x 1600 mm Day-light: 800 mm Maximum Load: 1500 Tons Ejector Capacity: 150 Tons Forward Cylinder Diameter: 800 mm Ejector Cylinder Dia: 150 mm Cycle Operation: Automatic/Manual mode
Cold Isostatic Press (CIP) The cold iso-static press (CIP) is one of the unique facilities in India. It has special wire wound vessel along with wire wound frame for additional safety. The CIP is being used for the iso-static compaction of the ceramic / PM parts. The powder or pre-formed shapes are encapsulated in a rubber mould and subjected under iso-static press for obtaining uniform green density and complex shapes. ARCI has the critical know-how for making the mould for any complex shapes. Specifications Vessel Dimension: 1100 mm dia x 1000 mm depth Maximum Pressure: 4 Kbar, (68,000 PSI) Number of Intensifier: Four Pressure Medium: Water with oil emulsion
3-Axes Ultrasonic CNC Machining Centre for Machining of Ceramic Parts The 3-axes ultrasonic machining centre (USM) is one of the unique facilities in India. This machine is similar to a conventional milling machine with a special attachment of ultrasonic generator to generate the ultrasonic motion of 20 KHz, which will be directly transformed through the special spindle and tool holder and is used for milling/grinding. The tool has both vibration motions in longitudinal direction and will rotate with 6,000 rpm. When the tool comes in contact with the job to be machined, it continuously collides with the job and breaks the parts into micro spices and hence, the material is removed. Specifications Table Size: 500 mm dia (Rotary Table) X, Y & Z Axes: 500 x 400 x 400 mm Table Tilting (B-axis): -15 to +90o Spindle Speed: 6000 rpm Control System: Siemens 840D
5-Axes CNC Machining Centre for Machining of Ceramics The 5-axes CNC machining centre is a custom built unit which can be operated with and with out coolant. This machine is especially used for green machining of ceramics after they are pre-sintered. The advantage of green machining is mainly to increase the productivity and reduce the machining cost. This machine can also perform grinding operation on the sintered ceramic parts with higher spindle rpm and can achieve final surface finish of 0.1. This machine is capable of carrying out profile generation like parabolid, spherical, aspherical, hyperboloid surfaces within ±10 m accuracies. Specifications Table Size: 1600 mm dia (Rotary Table) X, Y & Z Axes: 800 x 800 x 500 mm Spindle Tilting (angle): -15 to +90^o Spindle Speed: 48,000 rpm Control System: GE Fanuc 15i-M (Five Axes)
Chemical Vapour Deposition System for SiC Coating The CVD system has been established at the Centre for Non-oxide ceramics for making SiC coating on the SiC substrate and also to make CVD-SiC stand alone parts. The CVD-SiC made at the centre has the density close to theoretical value with very high purity and has been studied for properties like physical, mechanical and thermal for different applications. The surface finish achieved on the CVD coated SiC substrate is 4-7Å. Specifications Max. Operating Temperature of CVD: 2200°C Process Temperature: 1600°C Ultimate Vacuum: 1x10-2 Torr Process Pressure: 150 Torr Type of Vacuum Pumps: Two numbers of Liquid Vacuum Pumps Number of Scrubbers: 2 Nos. Number of Vaporizers: 4 Nos. Number of Gas Injectors: 5 on the Top and 4 at sides Reactor Dimension: 1800 mm ht. x 1400 mm dia Turn-table Speed: 1-10 rpm
BET Surface Analyzer Surface area and porosity are important characteristics, capable of affecting the quality and utility of many materials. For this reason it is important to determine and control them accurately. BET theory of physical adsorption to form a monolayer of gas molecules on a solid surface is the basis for measurement of the specific surface area. The salient features are low surface area measurement capability upto 0.01 m2/gm with nitrogen, measurement of pore volume < 4.0 to 10-6cc/gm and higher, automatic free space correction unique twin tube design, data capability of single and multi point BET surface area Technical specifications Make & Model: M/s Gemini, Micromeritics, USA, (11-2370) Surface area determination limits: 0.1 m2 to >300 m2 Sample quantity: Sample capacity is approximately 2.0 cm3 Temperature: 10 to 350oC operating, 0 to 50oC non-operating Humidity: 20 to 80 % relative, non- condensing Gases: Optimized for nitrogen in a liquid nitrogen sample bath. Typically, oxygen, argon, butane, Methane and other light hydrocarbons
Viscometer The centre has one vibrational viscometer, which has been used to study rheological behavior of ceramic powder suspensions. The principle of measurement of viscosity in a vibrational viscometer is based on damping of an oscillating electromechanical resonator immersed in a fluid whose viscosity is to be determined. Make: Cambridge Applied Systems, Inc. Model: ViscoLab 4100 Viscosity: 0.2 to 10,000 centipoise Minimum sample required: less than 2 ml of fluid Operation temperature: -40 - 90oC pH of the fluid: 2.5 - 11 Time required per sample: 30 minutes
Zeta Potential Analyzer Zeta potential is one of the most important parameter in colloidal processing of ceramic powder Zeta potential indicates the degree of repulsion between adjacent, similarly charged powder particles in a suspension. A high zeta potential will confer stability, i.e. the solution or dispersion will resist aggregation. The center has one zeta potential analyzer, based on electrokinetic phenomena of the charged particles when an electric field is applied across the dispersion Technical specifications of Zeta potential analyzer Make: Zeta-Meter Inc, USA Model: Zeta-Meter 3.0+ Unit, Serial No. ZM3-577 Zeta potential measurement range: -125 to +125 millivolts Sample volume: 20 ml (min.) pH range: pH 2.5- pH 11 Viscosity range: sample must be aqueous Temperature range: 5-750oC Particle size range: optimal is 0.5 mm to about 10 mm