Nov 7 2005
Results of a research project undertaken by Applied Functional Materials (AFM) Ltd., could lead to a lucrative commercial deal worth approximately £200k, thanks to a project funded as part of the SPARK award programme, run by the PowdermatriX Faraday Partnership.
AFM, a spin-out company from the University of Birmingham at the cutting edge of manufacturing complex shaped ceramic devices, recently undertook feasibility studies into establishing an efficient manufacturing process for creating curved piezo-composites.
Piezo-composites are widely used in ultrasonic applications such as SONAR, non-destructive testing and biomedical imaging.
In ultrasonic, piezo-composites have proven to perform better than just using a sintered ceramic block. However, the manufacturing process is quite slow and wasteful of material. AFM believed that a more efficient method could be used to create curved piezo-composites and was awarded the SPARK funding to test its theory.
The positive results from the feasibility studies have shown that manufacture of curved piezo-composites is possible, and have generated a great deal of commercial interest.
On top of this, the SPARK award study has led to the development of a new moulding technique that has great potential for a number of applications both in those areas that AFM is currently supplying into ( e.g. satellite communications) and in applications new to AFM.
SPARK awards are given to fund problem solving, proof-of-concept, technology demonstration and other development activities for companies that are members of PowdermatriX, the Faraday Partnership based at CERAM, which is responsible for promoting advanced ceramics and powder technology. For further information about SPARK awards, please visit the PowdermatriX website or contact Stuart MacLachlan.