Ceramic honeycomb substrates used in catalytic converter and diesel particulate filters for automobile pollution control applications require long-term durability, and 80,000 km on-road run for gasoline-powered passenger cards in India. The durability of honeycomb substrates depends not only on basic physical, mechanical and thermal properties of honeycombs, but also on thermal stresses generated during use, and canning or mounting pressure. These key properties of honeycomb substrates were characterised. The properties that affect thermal and mechanical durability are found to be dependent on the design parameters such as cell density and honeycomb volume ration of honeycomb substrates. The thermal stresses generated by the operating conditions were calculated and it was found that the honeycomb substrates could very well withstand these stresses.
