Silicon carbide is one of the most versatile structural ceramics on the market and finds application across numerous industrial fields. This material provides outstanding high-temperature strength, chemical corrosion resistance, abrasion resistance, low thermal expansion rates and superb hardness characteristics.
As part of its various applications, aluminum can be found in abrasives, grinding wheels, metallurgical raw materials and as components for gas turbines, rocket nozzles and engines in both automotive and aerospace industries.
High Temperature Strength
Silicon carbide (abbreviated SiC) is an extremely hard and strong non-oxide ceramic material with strong chemical resistance and high temperature strength properties, making it a valuable material in numerous applications. Applications for SiC include its use as an abrasive, in refractories/ceramics due to its thermal expansion coefficient resistance properties, or as a semiconductor because of its thermal conductivity properties.
Solid-phase sintered silicon carbide can retain its strength at temperatures as high as 1400degC, making it an excellent material choice for mechanical seals, pump and other industrial equipment parts, nozzles and corrosion-resistant vessels. Furthermore, its versatility has found use across numerous fields including automobile manufacturing and chemical industries as well as environmental protection, space technology microelectronics papermaking energy production etc.
Foam ceramics made of solid-phase sintered silicon carbide have superior heat resistance and can be heated by electricity, making them suitable for heating corrosive materials in construction departments and semiconductor fields. Due to their excellent permeability, adsorption ability, and special space network structure they are also often used as carriers of automotive exhaust gas purifiers.
High Thermal Conductivity
Silicon carbide (commonly referred to as carborundum) offers superior thermal conductivity for applications that demand efficient heat transfer, such as electrical components and aerospace parts. As a result, silicon carbide ceramics make ideal materials for demanding industrial uses such as electrical engineering applications or aerospace components.
Sintered silicon carbide (SSiC) boasts the highest room-temperature thermal conductivity among structural ceramics at 270 W/m*K due to boron and carbon additions used to form it; this may also help explain its high thermal conductivity at room temperatures; however, these additives reduce both its flexural strength and fracture toughness to some extent; due to this research is being done into alternative sintering aids for silicon carbide.
Foam silicon carbide ceramics are widely used as carrier materials in automobile exhaust gas purifiers. Their excellent corrosion resistance, air permeability, large specific surface area and special space network structure help increase heat exchange rate. Furthermore, these ceramics can be heated directly by electricity making them perfect for heating corrosive liquids in construction departments and semiconductor fields directly with electricity heating. Furthermore, these highly ballistic resistant ceramics can withstand 7.62 x 54mm R B32 projectiles at speeds of up to 850m/s!
Low Thermal Expansion Coefficient
Silicon carbide is a dense material, more so than common ceramics but less dense than some metals. Due to this lower density, silicon carbide excels at resisting corrosion and wear in challenging environments, and stands up well under harsh conditions that would damage lesser materials.
Saint-Gobain Performance Ceramics & Refractories’ Hexoloy(r) silicon carbide materials have been engineered to outperform other conventional ceramics under demanding operating conditions, with our application engineers available to design products tailored precisely to meet your specifications.
Silicon carbide ceramics combine high strength, excellent thermal conductivity and corrosion resistance with low costs to provide superior components for tube liners and mechanical seal parts, aerospace applications as well as use as abrasives.
High Resistance to Acids & Lyes
Silicon carbide ceramics have an unparalleled resistance to chemical attacks. They are unaffected by acids (with the exception of hydrofluoric acid), alkalis, or molten salts; corrosion by many gases is also undetectable – they can even withstand temperatures as high as 1600degC without losing strength.
Chemical-resistant nozzles and pipe linings are popularly employed in the petrochemical industry; cutting tools, grinding wheels and mechanical seal parts for automotive and mechanical industries; they’re even employed in challenging applications such as 3D printing and ballistics.
Saint-Gobain Performance Ceramics & Refractories’ Hexoloy(r) sintered silicon carbide ceramics offer high performance solutions for challenging operating conditions, with our expert application engineers providing assistance in selecting the appropriate Hexoloy refractory ceramics to meet them. Request a quote now to discover how Hexoloy could enhance your manufacturing process! It features superior properties including high flexural strength, excellent fracture toughness/hardness/tensile fracture toughness properties/hardness/low densification shrinkage which allow it outperforming other traditional ceramic materials in industrial applications where they compete head on.
High Wear Resistance
Silicon carbide stands out among advanced ceramics due to its outstanding abrasion resistance, high hardness, and strength; making it ideal for applications where physical wear may be an issue and other ceramics cannot perform.
Dense silicon nitride, produced through liquid-phase sintering, boasts outstanding mechanical properties such as high flexural strength, fracture resistance, creep resistance and hardness – qualities which make dense nitride an attractive material for coating friction surfaces operating at high temperatures.
SiC ceramics exhibit improved abrasion resistance with increasing grain size, and hardness increases with increasing sintering temperature. Their abrasion resistance is further bolstered by their low coefficient of thermal expansion allowing thinner sheets to remain functional under high temperatures.
Dense silicon carbide boasts superior fracture toughness and hardness, making it capable of withstanding impacts from 7.62mm projectiles traveling at impact velocities up to 752 m/s – an excellent choice for ballistic protection against moderate and heavy threats.