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Description of Business	12 Months Ended
Description of Business	Dec. 31, 2011
Description of Business [Abstract]
Description of Business	1. Description of Business Ceradyne, Inc. (“Ceradyne” or “the Company”) develops, manufactures and markets advanced technical ceramic products and components for defense, industrial, energy, automotive/diesel and commercial applications. The Company's expertise in ceramic material science as well as a vertically integrated approach of designing much of its key equipment and controlling the manufacturing process from raw material powders to finished product allows the Company to design and manufacture precision, high quality advanced technical ceramic products to meet demanding customer specifications. The Company markets its products to a broad range of industries in approximately 63 countries. The Company's customers include the U.S. government, prime government contractors and large industrial and commercial manufacturers. In many high performance applications, products made of advanced technical ceramics meet specifications that similar products made of metals, plastics or traditional ceramics cannot achieve. Advanced technical ceramics can withstand extremely high temperatures, combine hardness with light weight, are highly resistant to corrosion and wear, and often have excellent electrical insulation capabilities, special electronic properties and low friction characteristics.