Silicon Carbide Products

Silicon carbide, also referred to as corundum or carborundum, is a hard chemical compound made up of silicon and carbon that forms gems such as moissanite.

Metalloid has a layered crystal structure that comes in various forms or polytypes. It is insoluble in water and alcohol while being resistant to most acids and alkalis.

Abrasive Materials

Silicon carbide is one of the hardest known substances, rivaling materials like diamond and boron carbide in terms of its hardness. It is an extremely hard and sharp abrasive material used for cutting, grinding and shaping metals, stone and other materials – this makes it popular choice when creating grinding wheels and sandpaper products.

Abrasive materials contain long, thin grains with sharp points – ideal for quickly cutting through metals, stones and other tough materials without damage to underlying surfaces. Silicon carbide has an exceptionally high Mohs scale hardness rating of 9.1, making it particularly suitable for use when sanding away metal and other hard substances.

Ceramic materials are also highly durable and resistant to extreme temperatures, making them suitable for use in electrical power systems and the management of battery packs on electric vehicles. Furthermore, this material has the added advantage of withstanding the high voltage demands placed upon such engines.

Washington Mills produces a wide range of black sic abrasives from macro to micro grits and CARBOREX submicron powder abrasives that can be found suitable for applications including grinding wheel and coated bonded/coated abrasives, refractories, iron/steel blasting blasting, free grinding, non-slip abrasives rock tumbling as well as gem and stone polishing. These materials come in handy for many uses including making grinding wheel/coated/coated/bonded/coated/coated/coated/coated/bonded/coated/bonded/coated/coated/coated/bonded/coated/coated/bonded/coated/coated/coated/bonded/coated/coated/bonded/coated/coated/bonded and coated/bonded (grinding wheel), refractories/iron steel blasting, free grinding/nonslip abrasives/rock tumbling/ gem polishing.

An abrasive material is produced by melting and cooling silicon dioxide under controlled conditions in a reactor to form carbide crystals, which are then sinterd together into very hard ceramic material known as carborundum. Although naturally found as the rare mineral moissanite, mass production of this natural mineral powder started in 1893 for use as an abrasive.

Cutting Tools

Silicon carbide is widely used to manufacture cutting tools for use on metal and ceramic materials. Due to its superior hardness and wear resistance, silicon carbide makes an excellent material choice when dealing with abrasive materials that may chip during cutting. Furthermore, this heat resistant material also prevents distortion or oxidation of tools made with this material and ensures smoother cuts overall. Furthermore, silicon carbide cutting tools feature good lubricity which allows smoother cuts.

Silicon Carbide powder is widely utilized for various abrasive machining processes such as sandblasting, grinding and water-jet cutting operations. Additionally, this material serves as an insulator in glass manufacturing as well as ceramic production processes. Furthermore, silicon Carbide’s strength and wear resistance allow for clean cuts with minimum waste to raw materials.

Silicon nitride and silica ceramics can also be used in cutting tool matrices for their cutting tool properties, and may be combined with reinforcing whisker materials like zirconia, yttria, hafnia magnesia titanium carbide and chromium carbide to increase toughness. Molded into insert forms before being sintered under pressures exceeding 4,000 psi to produce these cutting tools.

Patents related to this technology have been filed. One patent outlines a process for producing abrasive ceramics by mixing silicon carbide and alumina, then sintering. This mixture produces hard yet more durable ceramic material than its original state, which can then be used for creating cutting tools for use during various machining operations such as turning, milling and boring operations.

Heat Resistant Materials

Silicon carbide (SiC) is an inorganic compound composed of silicon (Si) and carbon (C). While rare in nature, silicon carbide has been successfully produced via electrochemical reaction between sand and carbon particles at high temperatures. With high hardness, good heat resistance, excellent thermal conductivity, strength at high temperatures with limited thermal expansion making silicon carbide an ideal candidate for use in refractory materials.

Silicon Carbide Ceramic Powder When mixed with other materials, ceramic powder can produce products designed to function under high-temperature and mechanically demanding environments. Applications for ceramic powder range from hardness abrasives for its anticorrosive properties; thermal stability in refractories/ceramics/ceramites for thermal stability/high heat resistance properties; to electronics where its high thermal conductivity meets chemical compatibility – as seen below.

Refractory Materials

Silicon carbide refractories are used to shield equipment from the high temperatures and heavy loads associated with industrial processes, such as glassmaking. For instance, in glassmaking they help shield furnace walls and muffles from being subjected to intense kiln firing temperatures. Silicon carbide refractories also serve as wear-resistant parts used within chemical industry applications, including lined pipes and control flow chokes.

Carbon fiber reinforced silicon carbide (CFRC), an extremely strong but lightweight and durable material commonly found in brake pads of high performance cars, as well as Chobham armor and bulletproof vest ceramic plates are made of it.

Mohs scale of hardness ranks SiC at 9 on their scale of hardness scale, making it harder than diamond and boron carbide. SiC’s hardness provides it with excellent abrasion and wear resistance as well as non-corrosive properties that make it long-term durable. In addition, its rigidity and low thermal expansion properties enable it to withstand high levels of stress making it popular choice in applications like grinding wheels.

Wear Resistant Materials

Silicon carbide boasts outstanding physical durability and is capable of operating under pressure at very high temperatures, without cracking under strain. Furthermore, its chemical inertness allows it to withstand extremely aggressive chemicals like alkalis and molten salts while offering resistance against electromagnetic disturbances and radiation.

Reaction bonded silicon carbide ceramics (ZPC liners) are an ideal choice for applications requiring outstanding performance at elevated temperatures, providing outstanding erosion and abrasion resistance, along with long term cost-cutting advantages over tiled or metallic linings. ZPC liners have significantly fewer maintenance costs while providing longer run times, making ZPC the go-to material in many instances.

SiC is known to resist tribological wear (wear due to friction between materials), depending on both its grain size distribution and presence of reinforcing phase grains within abraded structures. Furthermore, SiC’s resistance to brittle cracking is significantly higher than other structural ceramics.

Reaction-bonded sintered SiC offers superior abrasion resistance, moderate thermal expansion and exceptional corrosion resistance – ideal qualities for use in ceramic elbows, liner pipes and trough liners used in nonferrous metal smelting applications as well as for lining sandblasting nozzles and automotive water pumps.

Sintering for reaction-bonded SiC is a series of manufacturing processes which produce a green body composed of silicon carbide powder mixed with plastic binder, such as boron nitride or carbon, that is then compressed, extruded or injection molded to form ceramic products. Sintering allows SiC and binder grades to coalesce during its sintering process and provide increased resistance against high temperature environments as well as abrasion than traditional alloys or metals.

High Temperature Materials

Silicon carbide (SiC) is one of the hardest and heat-resistant ceramic materials, naturally found in moissanite. Since 1893 it has been mass-produced as an abrasive synthetic powder which has since been sintered together to form high performance advanced structural ceramics. SiC finds use in industries including cutting tool production and grinding semiconductors/ferrous metals; its exceptional hardness also makes it highly effective abrasives for grinding/polishing applications.

SiC is an ideal material for high temperature applications, boasting a Young’s modulus of over 400 GPa and maintaining 25-degC bend strength up to its melting point of silicon (1410 degC). SiC stands up well against corrosion, abrasion, erosion and frictional wear while being insensitive to acids such as phosphoric, sulfuric and nitric acids – making it the go-to material in chemical plants, oil pipelines and other industrial environments.

Reaction bonding or sintering, which greatly alter the microstructure of final SiC products. Reaction bonded SiC is produced by infiltrating compacts of carbon and silicon with liquid silicon which infiltrates compacts to form more SiC. Meanwhile, sintered SiC is formed using pure silicon carbide powder with non-oxide sintering aids using conventional ceramic forming techniques.

Both forms offer excellent machinability, high thermal conductivity and low thermal expansion rates. Both materials can also withstand extreme temperatures without becoming deformed – making them suitable for nuclear reactors, petrochemical processing facilities, aerospace applications, engine components, mechanical seals and pumps.