Silicon Carbide Wheel

Silicon carbide (SiC) features very sharp abrasive grains that make it ideal for grinding soft metals such as aluminium or cast iron. Furthermore, SiC can also be found in extremely hard and brittle materials like glass factory and agate, among others.

It is an ideal solution for quickly stripping away epoxy, urethane, paint and concrete coatings from surfaces like epoxy floor coatings or painted floors, cutting much faster than standard abrasive wheels.

Metals

Metals can be found everywhere in nature and used for various applications. Some metals are rarer, like gold and diamonds. Others such as iron and steel are common. Many alloys, which combine two or more metals to achieve superior properties than their pure elements, have also become widely popular over time. This practice of mixing metals has been done since millennia to meet specific physical and chemical specifications.

Silicon carbide, or SiC, is an artificial material created from carbon and silicon atoms combined together into one compound. Naturally occurring as moissanite gem, SiC is also produced as granules and powder for use as abrasives. With second only to diamond in terms of hardness and stability it allows it to cut through materials without damage to them or contamination entering its finished product.

Silicon carbide wheels come in various forms and materials that suit different tasks and environments. Green silicon carbide wheels contain more SiC material and are optimal for tool grinding or other precision machining jobs that demand high speeds or demanding abrasiveness, while black wheels with lower SiC content may be used for general grinding and machining without such stringent requirements for speed or abrasiveness.

Aluminum oxide abrasives are less expensive and have multiple applications. You can use them for sanding aluminum, steel and other ferrous materials; however, they should not be used on carbon-reacting metals that brittle quickly. Furthermore, its narrow particle size means it wears down faster than other grains.

CBN wheels offer much wider grit options and are an excellent solution for grinding hard, brittle materials that react with oxygen. CBN has a hardness of 4500 HrV, outlasting conventional aluminum oxide wheels by 300:1. CBN is used for grinding tasks such as rough polishing semiconductors, ceramics, glass and ferrous metals. There are two polymorphs of CBN: alpha has a wurtzite crystal structure; while beta features zinc blende crystal structures similar to diamond. The beta form is more stable than alpha forms, making it an attractive choice for ceramic and metal cutting abrasives machining applications. Like other abrasive medias, beta can also be made into grinding wheels for use on these substrates. CBN is commonly used to produce blue, red and yellow light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for televisions and display boards, offering more energy efficient alternatives than incandescent bulbs while lasting longer and being cheaper to operate. Lasers use CBN for optical purposes while the material is popularly employed when grinding and refinishing marble, granite and other natural stones.

Ceramics

Silicon carbide wheels can also be used to grind ceramics, minerals, stones and non-ferrous alloys such as aluminum and copper, all materials with high hardness that may be difficult to grind with other abrasives. Silicon carbide’s higher thermal conductivity enables it to dissipate heat during cutting processes for cooler cutting wheels that reduce degradation to specimens.

Ceramic materials are solids with high melting points, low moduli of elasticity and high hardness; this makes them highly resistant to wear and corrosion. Some popular ceramics include silica, zirconia, talc and alumina; silicon carbide is another type of carbide which has one of the hardest known substances; only diamond and tungsten carbide surpass it in hardness.

Silicon carbide comes in various forms. Black silicon carbide is one of the more prevalent variations of this abrasive, often used for metal machining but also used elsewhere where high hardness is necessary. Green silicon carbide, however, may offer better performance under certain circumstances than black silicon carbide alone.

When selecting a wheel, it is essential to take both hole size and grit into account when choosing an appropriate option. Large holes require coarser wheels to quickly cut through samples quickly while smaller samples can be ground with finer wheels for smooth grinding action. Utilizing an appropriate grit also helps ensure an even cut without abrasion of specimens.

Abrasive particles bonded to a wheel play an important part in its performance. Their bond strength determines how long their use will continue before needing replacing, with harder particles generally lasting longer but having lower hardness bonds. Higher grades typically have longer lives but lower hardness levels compared to others grades.

At Washington Mills, the final step of producing silicon carbide wheels involves binding them with auxiliary materials using methods like injection molding and extrusion, creating durable wheels suitable for various applications. Washington Mills produces alpha-grade silicon carbide macro-grits, micro-grits, powders with precise chemical, particle size distribution and conductivity standards in order to produce high end technical ceramics; resin and rubber-bonded cut-off wheels designed specifically for nonmetallic materials can also be produced as well as custom tailored abrasives tailored specifically to meet cutting requirements for specific applications.

Glass

Silicon carbide wheels offer superior performance and long life when cutting glass, outshone by traditional steel cutting wheels. Furthermore, silicon carbide wheels produce finer edge quality due to hard, sharp abrasive particles being held together by an exceptionally tough bond – with higher numbers signifying stronger bonds while lower numbers indicate softer ones which wear down more rapidly and must be replaced sooner.

Glass is produced when silica-rich sand is heated to high temperatures. At these temperatures, the sand becomes liquid before becoming solid again when cooled off; its molecular structure changes so that its consistency lies somewhere between solid and liquid. Once created, this material can then be used for window panes, drinking glasses, laboratory equipment, cooktop panels and computer monitors display screens – in addition to optical materials, amplifiers and multiplexers used by telecom systems.

Silicon carbide, commonly used in the manufacture of glass, is also an immensely useful abrasive. Characterized by high grinding hardness and resistance to deformation, silicon carbide abrasives are used for precision grinding of stone, metals and ceramics as well as grinding hard materials that traditional abrasives cannot penetrate. They can even be used on more difficult materials that cannot be approached using traditional abrasives like copper oxide.

Silicon carbide’s electrical conductivity makes it an excellent material choice for composite applications that must withstand stress or operate at high voltages, such as those involving electrical stress resistance or high voltage operation. Washington Mills’ CARBOREX(r) silicon carbide powders offer lightweight alternatives to metal additives and help improve composites reliability in harsh electrified environments.

When it comes to glass, selecting an abrasive wheel depends on its material and size of your workpieces. Green silicon carbide wheels are optimally designed to handle grinding softer metals with low tensile strengths, such as gray cast iron, brass, lead and zinc; in addition to hard, brittle materials like ceramics and glass factory material. Black silicon carbide wheels, on the other hand, are more robust and suitable for grinding harder metals with greater tensile strengths, like cemented carbide. Their grey-black hue reveals their high hardness, brittleness, sharp grains and thermal conductivity properties. These wheels are typically coated with resins to provide excellent grinding properties, and can be used for metal-to-metal grinding, die fine grinding and cylinder honing on aircraft, automobiles and power tools. Furthermore, these grinding wheels can be used for polishing optical glass, ceramics and other hard brittle materials.