Did you know sensors can be made from ceramics? Ceramics aren’t just for pottery or delicate china. In fact, ceramics are among the most durable and versatile materials in engineering and have become critical for sensors in extreme environments for high performance. First developed for sensor applications during World War I, ceramics have been used by the U.S. Navy for decades due to their high compressive strength, corrosion resistance, and low specific density. These properties, along with their sensing properties make them ideal for withstanding the immense pressures of ocean environments while maintaining a lightweight structure—critical for submarines operating at extreme depths.
However, creating cutting-edge modern sensors from ceramics comes with many challenges: current manufacturing methods are outdated and labor-intensive, riddled with inefficiencies, and extremely narrow margins for error, making production slow and expensive.
Now, ceramic sensors are getting a 21st-century upgrade with Oceanit’s AMP (Additive Manufacturing of Piezoceramics), a breakthrough 3D-printing methodology that enables rapid fabrication of significantly more cost-effective ceramic sensors. CERES unlocks new possibilities beyond military applications and could transform industries like healthcare, renewable energy, and public safety.
Traditional Ceramics.
Ceramics are inorganic, non-metallic materials made of compounds hardened by high-temperature firing. Historically, ceramics were understood as clay-based pottery, such as earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain, but in the modern era, “ceramic” has become an umbrella term for more materials, including glass, advanced ceramics, and several cement systems that are not generally clay-based.
The microstructure of ceramics, composed of tiny grains, plays a key role in determining their properties. These grains affect strength, density, and performance and offer exceptional properties: high thermal stability, corrosion resistance, mechanical strength, and piezoelectric capabilities, which is the ability to convert mechanical stress into electrical signals. These characteristics allow ceramics to perform as sensors in extreme conditions, making them essential for applications from the deep sea and aerospace to medical imaging.
Where Are Ceramic Sensors Used?
Ceramic sensors are vital across a range of industries. In healthcare, piezoceramics are used in ultrasound machines, enabling high-resolution imaging. In aerospace, they monitor pressure and temperature within jet engines and spacecraft. The energy sector relies on piezoceramic sensors to measure gas flows and detect temperature fluctuations in power plants. Ceramic sensors also play a role in robotics, automation, and consumer electronics, like ultrasonic cleaners and microphones.
In military applications, piezoceramic sensors have become indispensable for surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, helping the Navy monitor underwater or airborne activity with incredible precision. However, despite these benefits, traditional ceramic sensor manufacturing methods are struggling to keep pace with modern demands on precision and quantity.
Manual Manufacturing Challenges
Ceramic sensors can be fragile, with high manufacturing failure rates and even small imperfections limiting their effective detection range. This is largely due to the manual manufacturing process, which poses difficulty in achieving precise geometries and uniform material properties. Traditional methods, which involve labor-intensive steps like injection molding, casting, and machining, have little to no room for error. Even minor deviations can lead to defects, cracking, or other failures that render a sensor useless, and waste time, money, and resources.
Ceramics’ inherent brittleness compounds these challenges. For example, multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) often develop micro-cracks during soldering if exposed to rapid temperature changes. Such defects significantly reduce strength, limiting reliability and performance.
Inherent human error during traditional manufacturing impacts scalability, making producing large numbers of consistently top-quality ceramics difficult. In an age of rapid innovation, these legacy processes can no longer meet the demands of cutting-edge ceramic sensor technology.
Additive Manufacturing of Piezoceramics (AMP)
Oceanit is revolutionizing the manufacturing process of ceramic sensors with AMP Picture this: instead of manually shaping and firing fragile ceramic components, we’re using advanced 3D printing techniques to automate the process – achieving precise geometries and completely uniform material properties. With AMP, sensors are built layer by layer with incredible precision, reducing human error and increasing durability.
AMP leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to further streamline manufacturing, continuously monitoring and analyzing production data to improve sensor design and performance. This real-time optimization dramatically shortens development cycles, reduces production costs, and ensures a higher degree of consistency in output. Combining AI and automation makes AMP a groundbreaking solution that accelerates sensor innovation for defense and civilian applications.
For the U.S. Navy, AMP will deliver state-of-the-art sensors at scale, with improved detection capabilities and increased range and reliability, while cutting down on maintenance and manufacturing loss.
Expanding Horizons
AMP’s innovative technology, designed to streamline production and improve sensor performance, has unlocked opportunities for industries beyond defense applications for the Navy.
Ceramic Sensors Used in Space
AMP has the potential to revolutionize a wide range of applications. Autonomous vehicles could significantly improve obstacle detection and navigation under extreme conditions like fog, snow, or heavy rain. In space exploration, AMP sensors could monitor spacecraft for structural integrity in environments with extreme radiation and temperature fluctuations. The scalability will enable high-performance sensors to be produced at lower costs, making them accessible to renewable energy, manufacturing, and public safety fields.
AMP represents a pivotal shift in ceramic sensor manufacturing, addressing long-standing inefficiencies and unlocking new possibilities. By combining automation, AI, and material science, this innovation empowers industries to produce smarter, stronger, and more adaptable sensors. From safeguarding submarines to enabling life-saving medical devices, AMP is set to revolutionize how ceramics shape the world of tomorrow.
