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, porcela ...

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 by ...

oil and gas A fossil fuel is a flammable carbon compound- or hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the buried remains of prehistoric organisms (animals, plants or microplanktons), a process that occurs within geologi ...

solar energy Solar energy is the radiant energy from the Sun's sunlight, light and heat, which can be harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating) and solar architecture. It is a ...

, automotive, and defense.

Background

Ceradyne was founded in 1967 and in late 2004, the company added new product lines by acquiring ESK Ceramics of Kempten, Germany. In addition to producing ceramic components for industrial processes such as

silicon Silicon is a chemical element; it has symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic lustre, and is a tetravalent metalloid (sometimes considered a non-metal) and semiconductor. It is a membe ...

foundries and ceramic fuel pellets for nuclear reactors, Ceradyne researched and produced varieties of ballistic armour 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, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...

.
In December 2007, Ceradyne's lightweight armor was approved by the Army for use on military vehicles.

Oshkosh Truck Oshkosh Corporation, formerly Oshkosh Truck, is an American industrial company that designs and builds specialty trucks, military vehicles, truck bodies, airport fire apparatus, and access equipment. The corporation also owns Pierce Manufact ...

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 primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

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 sta ...

, 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 Technologies 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 Wiltshi ...

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 ...

(USSOCOM). USSOCOM 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 of Russia. They are organized into three service branches—the Russian Ground Forces, Ground Forces, Russian Navy, Navy, and Russi ...

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