
Ceramics enter a new era with laser-welded joints - joshlegs
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/08/ceramics-enter-a-new-era-with-laser-welded-joints/
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mensetmanusman
For those wondering why this matters:

One reason is for electronics in extreme environments. Glass/Ceramics are more
energetically stable than metals, so can withstand much higher temperatures.
Think advanced sensors inside a rocket combustion chamber... while it is on.

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darksaints
I would add that there is a case for ceramic matrix composites in modern gas
turbines. And this could also radically alter the ease of manufacturing for
solid oxide fuel cells, which in addition to having extremely high combined
cycle efficiencies (>80%), can natively use existing hydrocarbon fuel sources,
as opposed to just pure hydrogen.

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tus88
Is this what GE is putting behind the 9X to reduce noise?

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darksaints
It is used for the turbine blades and combustion chamber, but it has more to
do with heat tolerance and weight than noise. I think the biggest part of the
noise reduction comes from using a much larger and more efficient fan.

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ngold
With the ability to weld glass to metal and now ceramic welding, the next 50
years are going to see a manufacturing revolution.

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m3kw9
This seem to need very high precision and until you can hand weld it, it will
have limited applications comparing to Steel

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jacquesm
Steel is routinely welded robotically. There are a very large number of
applications where this advance in materials science will make a very large
difference, keep in mind that:

\- ceramics are thermally quite stable (with respect to expansion/contraction)

\- ceramics do not conduct electricity

\- ceramics do not melt easily

\- ceramics are hard; leading to excellent longevity

\- ceramics are chemically very stable

This is a pretty major thing.

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neltnerb
I agree with you that it's a big deal to be able to do it, but I am pretty
sure it'll stay specialty and extremely expensive for a long time. Brazing is
good enough for a lot of things after all, just not so much against corrosion
or super high temperatures.

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gsruff
Link to the actual paper: [https://sci-
hub.tw/downloads/2019-08-22/85/10.1126@science.a...](https://sci-
hub.tw/downloads/2019-08-22/85/10.1126@science.aaw6699.pdf)

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ohiovr
I was hoping to find a ceramics fusion welding technology while I was
researching thermionic converters. I thought it was impossible. Glad to see
someone figured out how to do it!

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baybal2
What were you making thermionic converters for?

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ohiovr
Just personal interest in converting heat to electricity. I saw a demo of it
on youtube and it seemed simple in principle. The materials required are often
superlative and hard to master.

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DubiousPusher
This is very interesting. Anyone have a good article for laypeople about the
modern use of ceramics in making things. I tried googling but failed.

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ASlave2Gravity
What sort of applications would this be used for? I see in the article housing
electronics, but isn't plastic pretty good for that? Aren't ceramics super
brittle?

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mymythisisthis
I'm thinking the ceramics would cancel lots of the electrical noise that
electronics, and electrical components, put out. You can't have a very
sensitive antenna if all the components in a receiver are spewing lots of
electrical signals.

Making it possible for even smaller computers.

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tandr
Thinking of it... Recycling of these computers will be challenging - how do
you dispose an item made from "unobtanium" ?

Crush it into sand? It is one of the hardest materials, one needs a harder
material to crush something. Heat/cool to have it crumble does not work well
either with ceramics.

Melting it into glass or something? Might not be practical due to extremely
high temps required.

Using it as "pebble" in road/bridge construction? Not sure if concrete will be
able to stick to it.

