Why Silicon Carbide Is the Best Blast Media

Black silicon carbide (commonly referred to as carborundum) is an ideal blasting media choice, offering maximum hardness and recycling capability while still offering quality service.

At 9.5 on the Mohs scale, only diamond and boron carbide are harder than this material – making it perfect for nonferrous and hard materials such as ceramics, glass and stone.

Hardness

Silicon carbide is an extremely hard and long-wearing ceramic material, ideal for blasting away rust from surfaces at high speeds with specialized machinery. Not only does its hardness ensure an even surface but its narrow pointed edges also etch away soft materials quickly.

Rodeco provides many forms of silicon carbide blast media that range in hardness from glass beads, walnut shells and black silicon carbide grit sizes to meet different applications. Glass bead is a classic in the blasting industry due to its ability to transfer energy without damaging substrate surfaces – this makes it great for blending, finishing and removing light burrs from surfaces without leaving behind damaging residue or creating static electricity build-up – which makes using it safer than other hard abrasives.

Carborundum (Black Silicon Carbide) is an effective abrasive material used in abrasive wheels, slurry applications, refractories and ceramic industries. It stands out as an exceptional material because its particles break down to reveal new sharp particles over time, much like in rock tumblers. Friable and nonfriable options extend its wear life making Carborundum an excellent solution for metal prep, welding/brazing brazing as well as glass etching applications.

Recyclability

Some blast media, due to either its low Mohs’ hardness, force of propulsion or material hardness, disintegrates into particulates that are too small to reuse – this type of media is known as single-pass media and it may be expensive.

Garnet and glass bead blast media can often be recycled multiple times. Both serve as fine-cutting abrasives that can remove coatings or corrosion from substrate, or prepare metal for additional processes, like peening. They require lower blasting pressure than most other media types.

Garnet is an ideal material for etching stone and glass surfaces, while both options make an effective pair for cleaning fiberglass, an important material used in aerospace and automotive applications.

Silicon carbide has been used extensively in astronomical telescopes for mirror production due to its toughness, rigidity and low thermal expansion characteristics. Furthermore, its anti-slip surfaces have also made it popular as non-slip surfaces on cars and industrial equipment.

As with all abrasive blast media, proper usage is key to realizing its maximum benefits. Utilizing silicon carbide correctly means selecting an appropriate grain size for the task at hand, setting appropriate blast pressure settings and taking all required safety precautions for maximum performance. When used appropriately, silicon carbide produces minimal dust while leaving behind an easy-to-maintain surface ready for further work.

Versatility

Silicon carbide’s versatility makes it the ideal blast media choice for many abrasive blasting applications, from direct pressure systems to suction blasting systems and crystal blasting applications. Available as grit, powder or crystal forms.

Due to its large band gap and excellent thermal conductivity, silicon carbide abrasive is suitable for applications that require high temperatures and/or voltages, including power electronics devices that produce, distribute, and utilize electricity. It can be found commonly used as an abrasive in applications where high temperatures or voltages must be managed.

Hardness makes aluminum oxide an excellent choice for etching glass, stone and ceramic surfaces, as well as prepping surfaces to be coated. Additionally, its hardness also makes it suitable for surface preparation for coating applications; it may even help prepare surfaces to be coated. However, wood or steel materials tend to prove less effective against this hard material than aluminum oxide would. Additionally, because its hard surface wears down faster than soft abrasives such as silicon carbide.

Pumice is an eco-friendly natural abrasive that makes an effective addition to surfaces needing cleaning or blasting, available as blocks that can be broken apart and crushed, as well as powder. Recyclable, it often works best in conjunction with other abrasives such as brown aluminum oxide. Perfect for removing thick rust from steel as well as cleaning and prepping surfaces before coatings go on; not recommended in systems intended for wet or volatile environments because static electricity generated can spark ignitions.

Applications

Silicon carbide stands out among blasting media due to its hardness, cutting speed, recyclability and versatility – qualities which make it the preferred solution in many industries. Although more costly initially, its efficiency and recyclability produce savings in time and labor which lead to long-term cost-cutting benefits and make this material a cost-effective long-term choice.

Carborundum (black silicon carbide) production begins with selecting high quality raw materials such as silica sand and petroleum coke for use as raw materials, milling them down further with coolant before being crushed to various sizes as required by application needs – this grading and classification process guarantees that each abrasive meets industry standards and customer demands.

Hard and durable blasting media like carborundum grit is also utilized in applications like refining plastic and mixed materials, sandblasting wood or stripping automotive coatings. Furthermore, carborundum printmaking – an alternative form of collagraph printing technique using carborundum grit to mark aluminium plates prior to printing ink on top – also employs it.

Moistanite may be rare naturally, but large crystals of silicon carbide can be grown for use in electronics and gemstones. With its combination of hardness, rigidity, and thermal expansion characteristics it has become popular for use as mirrors on astronomical telescopes such as Herschel Space Telescope mirrors; in addition it can also be smelted to produce ceramic brake pads, bulletproof vests or other industrial applications.