Ceradyne Inc.
Company typePublic
IndustryIndustrial Equipment & Components
Founded1967 (1967)
Headquarters
3M headquarters, St. Paul, Minnesota
,
United States
Area served
Worldwide
DivisionsAdvanced Ceramic Operations
Ceradyne Armor Systems, Inc.
Ceradyne Boron Products LLC
Ceradyne Canada ULC
ESK Ceramics
Minco, Inc.
Thermo Materials
Tianjin Technical Ceramics
SemEquip, Inc.
Semicon Associates
Vehicle Armor Systems[1]
Websitewww.ceradyne.com

Ceradyne, Incorporated is a wholly owned subsidiary of the British company, Avon Rubber. Ceradyne, Inc. is a manufacturer of advanced ceramic systems and components and involved in many technical industries including nuclear power, oil and gas, solar energy, automotive, and defense.[2] It is traded on the NASDAQ Stock Market.

Background

Ceradyne was founded in 1967[3] and in late 2004, the company added new product lines by acquiring ESK Ceramics of Kempten, Germany.[4]

In addition to producing ceramic components for industrial processes such as silicon foundries and ceramic fuel pellets for nuclear reactors, Ceradyne researched and produced varieties of ballistic armour for both personnel and vehicles.[5] 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.[6]
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.[7] Ceradyne was also the producer of ceramic Enhanced Small Arms Protective Inserts (E-SAPI) for the US Army's Interceptor body armor, 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.[7]

On November 28, 2012, Ceradyne, Inc. was fully acquired by 3M becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of 3M.[8]

On January 2, 2020, Ceradyne, Inc.'s advanced ballistic protection business and the Ceradyne brand were acquired by Avon Rubber.[9][10]

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 (USSOCOM). USSOCOM says "No one has been killed or wounded as a result of the defective body armor".[11][12]

IMP/ACT

The following table[13] displays the capabilities of Ceradyne's IMP/ACT (Improved Multihit Protection/Advanced Composite Technology)[14] series of plates. IMP/ACT plates use a stainless steel crack arrestor[15] embedded between the strike face and backer to contain cracking to the immediate site of a bullet impact;[16] the newest GOST 6A-rated GRANIT (ГРАНИТ) plates currently in service with the Russian Armed Forces use a similar crack arrestor made of titanium.[17] 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.

Bullet Bullet Construction MassNote 1 Velocity Plate Weight Multi-hit Spacing Hits Per Plate (typical)
5.56×45mm M193 Ball, lead core 55-grain (3.6 g) 3,300-foot-per-second (1,000 m/s) 3.7-pound (1.7 kg) 1–2-inch (2.5–5.1 cm) 12
5.56×45mm M855/SS109 Ball, steel tip, lead core 61-grain (4.0 g) 3,300-foot-per-second (1,000 m/s) 3.7-pound (1.7 kg) 1–2-inch (2.5–5.1 cm) 12
5.56×45mm M995 AP, tungsten carbide core 52-grain (3.4 g) 3,280-foot-per-second (1,000 m/s) 3.9-pound (1.8 kg) 2–3-inch (5.1–7.6 cm) 8
7.62×39mm PS Ball, steel core 122-grain (7.9 g) 2,400-foot-per-second (730 m/s) 3.7-pound (1.7 kg) 3–4-inch (7.6–10.2 cm) 8
7.62×54mmR LPS Ball, steel core 148-grain (9.6 g) 2,800-foot-per-second (850 m/s) 4.2-pound (1.9 kg) 3–4-inch (7.6–10.2 cm) 6
7.62×39mm BZ API (armor-piercing incendiary), steel core 119-grain (7.7 g) 2,400-foot-per-second (730 m/s) 4.2-pound (1.9 kg)[18][19] 3–4-inch (7.6–10.2 cm) 6
7.62×51mm M80 Ball, lead core 149-grain (9.7 g) 2,850-foot-per-second (870 m/s) 3.7-pound (1.7 kg) 4–5-inch (10–13 cm) 6
7.62×51mm M61 AP, steel core 151-grain (9.8 g) 2,850-foot-per-second (870 m/s) 4.9-pound (2.2 kg) 3–4-inch (7.6–10.2 cm) 4
.30-06 Springfield M2 AP AP, steel core 166-grain (10.8 g) 2,850-foot-per-second (870 m/s) 5.2-pound (2.4 kg) 3–4-inch (7.6–10.2 cm) 3
7.62×51mm M993 AP, tungsten carbide core 127-grain (8.2 g) 3,120-foot-per-second (950 m/s) 5.8-pound (2.6 kg) 5–6-inch (13–15 cm) 3

Note 1: 0.8-square-foot (0.074 m2) 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

  1. ^ "About Ceradyne, Inc". Ceradyne, Inc. Archived from the original on 2009-04-13. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
  2. ^ "Official 3M Ceradyne page". 3M's Ceradyne site. 3M Advanced Materials. Retrieved 2014-07-28.
  3. ^ "3M Completes Acquisition of Ceradyne". 3M. 3M. November 29, 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  4. ^ "Ceradyne Divisions". www.ceradyne.com. Ceradyne, Inc. Archived from the original on 29 July 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  5. ^ "Ceradyne, Inc. - Advanced Materials Division - 3M United States". www.ceradyne.com.
  6. ^ "Money: A stock caught in the Iraq debate".
  7. ^ a b "Ceradyne - OC Business News - OCRegister.com". Archived from the original on 2008-05-07. Retrieved 2008-07-03.
  8. ^ "Press release". 3M. 3M. November 29, 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  9. ^ "Avon Rubber Completes Acquisition Of 3M's Ballistic Protection Business". Avon Rubber. Avon Rubber. January 2, 2020. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  10. ^ "3M's military armor business fetches $91 million in sale". Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. 2 January 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  11. ^ Newcomb, Alyssa (2012-11-24). "Special Ops Body Armor Recalled After Safety Defects Found". abcnews.go.com. Retrieved 2012-11-25.
  12. ^ Curtis, Rob (November 24, 2012). "Body armor used by special ops troops recalled". USA Today. Retrieved November 25, 2012. the SPEAR Generation III armor plates, as they're known, 'display a latent delamination defect,'
  13. ^ "Ceradyne Armor Brochure" (PDF). Ceradyne. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 February 2007. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  14. ^ "CERADYNE INC - 10-K Annual Report - 12/31/2002". getfilings.com. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  15. ^ "Questions Surround SOF Body Armor Recall". Military.com. 24 November 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  16. ^ "STATEMENT BY GENERAL PAUL J. KERN COMMANDING GENERAL U.S. ARMY MATERIEL COMMAND BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES SUBCOMMITTEE ON EMERGING THREATS AND CAPABILITIES UNITED STATES SENATE SESSION, 108TH CONGRESS ON THE DEFENSE LABORATORIES AND S&T OVERVIEW UNITED STATES ARMY MARCH 31, 2003" (PDF). Global Security. U.S. Congress. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  17. ^ Scarborough, Rowan. "Tactical advantage: Russian military shows off impressive new gear". The Washington Times. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  18. ^ "Multi Hit III++ Hard Armor Plate - MH3HAP-B4C". Paraclete Armor. Archived from the original on 2005-02-16. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  19. ^ "Miscellaneous gear and equipment". beta.sam.gov. U.S. General Services Administration. Retrieved 12 June 2020.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/3m-buying-ceradyne-for-43-premium-2012-10-01

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