Ceradyne, Incorporated is a wholly owned subsidiary of the British company, Avon Rubber. Ceradyne, Inc. is a manufacturer of advanced

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelai ...

systems and components and involved in many technical industries including

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced ...

, oil and gas,

solar energy Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar power to generate electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating), and solar architecture. It is an ...

, automotive, and defense. It is traded on the NASDAQ Stock Market.

Background

Ceradyne was founded in 1967 and in late 2004, the company added new product lines by acquiring ESK Ceramics of

Kempten, Germany Kempten (, (Swabian German: )) is the largest town of Allgäu, in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. The population was about 68,000 in 2016. The area was possibly settled originally by Celts, but was later taken over by the Romans, who called the town '' ...

. In addition to producing ceramic components for industrial processes such as

silicon Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic luster, and is a tetravalent metalloid and semiconductor. It is a member of group 14 in the periodic ...

foundries and ceramic fuel pellets for nuclear reactors, Ceradyne researched and produced varieties of

ballistic armour Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or f ...

for both personnel and vehicles. The ceramic armor was lighter than regular steel plate armor facilitating greater mobility. On September 16, 2007, the company was selling 25,000 sets of armor a month to

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metonym ...

.
In December 2007, Ceradyne's lightweight armor was approved by the Army for use on military vehicles. Oshkosh Truck produced the first of these armored vehicles using the armor on HEMETT crew cabs. Ceradyne was also the producer of ceramic Enhanced Small Arms Protective Inserts ( E-SAPI) for the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, c ...

Interceptor body armor The Interceptor Multi-Threat Body Armor System (IBA) is a bullet-resistant body armor system that was used by the United States Armed Forces during the 2000s, with some limited usage into the mid-2010s. IBA and its design replaced the older stan ...

, and the blast-proof components of the Ceradyne BULL MRAP/MMPV vehicle project.
In January 2008, the company also received an order for $9.6 million worth of body armor from UNICOR (Federal Prison Industries Inc.), which provided jobs and job training to inmates in US federal prisons. On November 28, 2012, Ceradyne, Inc. was fully acquired by 3M becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of 3M. On January 2, 2020, Ceradyne, Inc.'s advanced ballistic protection business and the Ceradyne brand were acquired by

Avon Rubber Avon Protection plc is a British company that specialises in the engineering and manufacturing of respiratory protection equipment for military, law enforcement and fire personnel. Its corporate headquarters are south of Melksham in Wiltshire ...

Product recall

In November 2012 thousands of SPEAR Generation III ballistic armor plates manufactured by Ceradyne for issue to United States Special Operations troops were recalled due to "safety defects". An analysis by the Department of Defense discovered the flawed plates. Defects were identified in less than five percent of plates tested according to

United States Special Operations Command The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM or SOCOM) is the unified combatant command charged with overseeing the various special operations component commands of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force of the United States A ...

(USSOCCOM). USSOCCOM says "No one has been killed or wounded as a result of the defective body armor".

IMP/ACT

The following table displays the capabilities of Ceradyne's IMP/ACT (Improved Multihit Protection/Advanced Composite Technology) series of plates. IMP/ACT plates use a stainless steel crack arrestor embedded between the strike face and backer to contain cracking to the immediate site of a bullet impact; the newest GOST 6A-rated GRANIT (ГРАНИТ) plates currently in service with the

Russian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military forces of Russia. In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two m ...

use a similar crack arrestor made of titanium. This table is intended to exemplify the performance improvements that can be attained through the use of a crack arrestor, which enables a monolithic plate to match the multi-hit performance of non-monolithic models at a significantly lower weight. Note 1: size medium, triple curve, complete armor plate weight (including spall cover) required to protect against threat at stated multi-hit spacing when used in conjunction with NIJ IIIA soft armor vest.

References

{{Reflist http://www.marketwatch.com/story/3m-buying-ceradyne-for-43-premium-2012-10-01 Companies based in Costa Mesa, California Manufacturing companies established in 1967 American companies established in 1967 Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq 3M 2012 mergers and acquisitions Ceramics manufacturers of the United States Manufacturing companies based in Greater Los Angeles