Ceramic material is an inorganic, non-metallic oxide, nitride, or carbide material.     Some elements, such as carbon or silicon, may be considered ceramics.     Ceramic materials are brittle, hard, strong in compression, and weak in shearing and tension.     They withstand chemical erosion that occurs in other materials subjected to acidic or caustic environments.     Ceramics generally can withstand very high temperatures, ranging from 1,000 °C to 1,600 °C (1,800 °F to 3,000 °F).Traditional ceramic raw materials include clay minerals such as kaolinite, whereas more recent materials include aluminum oxide, more commonly known as alumina.  The modern ceramic materials, which are classified as advanced ceramics, include silicon carbide and tungsten carbide.  Both are valued for their abrasion resistance and are therefore used in applications such as the wear plates of crushing equipment in mining operations.  Advanced ceramics are also used in the medical, electrical, electronics, and armor industries.