Silicon Carbide is one of the hardest, strongest advanced ceramic materials on the market. Thanks to its combination of hardness, elastic modulus, and low specific density it makes an excellent choice for applications with weight limitations.
LRSI tiles were attached to the outer surface of a shuttle’s exterior, serving to protect it during ascent and reentry. These white-colored tiles had RCG coating for increased corrosion protection.
Durability
Silicon carbide ceramics offer an exceptional combination of properties spanning physical, mechanical, thermal and chemical domains that makes it a highly versatile material suitable for extreme conditions with relative ease. Their hardness/abrasion resistance, thermal stability, corrosion resistance and load-bearing capacity show why silicon carbide ceramics have such value as an essential part of modern industrial applications.
As part of shuttle missions, LRSI tiles were regularly inspected at the Orbiter Processing Facility to identify damaged or worn-down ones and replace them before their next mission. To increase durability of these tiles, fabric sheets called gap fillers were placed between each tile to stop plasma penetrating through and allow thermal expansion and flexing of vehicle skin without disrupting performance.
Reaction bonded silicon carbide (RB-SiC) tiles have proven far more resilient than LRSI tiles in durability tests conducted using relatively softer (92% grade) alumina abrasives, wherein tungsten-carbide cored projectiles penetrated them at up to 30mm thickness and speeds of less than 1000m/s without experiencing macroscopic fracture.
Heat Resistance
Silicon carbide ceramic’s low thermal expansion rate enables it to withstand high temperatures with minimal damage, while its strength, abrasion resistance and chemical corrosion resistance make it suitable for applications such as shot blast nozzles and ceramic tubing.
Columbia and Challenger shuttles were coated with Reaction Cured Glass (RCG), composed of tetraboron silicide and borosilicate glass that served as an effective heat sink during orbital reentry. This RCG coating provided thermal management by dissipating excess heat generated during orbital reentry.
Sintered silicon carbide stands out from aluminium oxide as being much harder and more resilient against wear and shock, making it the ideal material choice for heavy-duty environments such as commercial kitchens.
Slip Resistance
Thermal Protection System (TPS) tiles on the space shuttle must withstand extreme temperatures and air deflections during reentry, to avoid breaking apart under pressure and leaving it vulnerable to debris, leaving its crew vulnerable and insecure in returning safely back home. Even one tile’s failure could leave its remaining pieces peeling away from its vessel, making safe return impossible.
Sintered silicon carbide not only boasts impressive hardness and strength, but its wear resistance makes it ideal for ceramic tubing, shot blast nozzles and cyclone components. Furthermore, this material features low friction levels as well as being corrosion resistant.
Reaction Bonded SiC is an economical production technique with lower hardness and temperature requirements than hot pressing, yielding coarse grains that provide lower hardness and use temperatures. It can be used in load bearing items such as support beams, rollers and cooling air pipes; as well as non-ferrous metal smelting applications like vertical tank distillation furnace linings (copper melting furnace) and arc plates for zinc powder furnaces. In addition, reaction bonded SiC can also be made into burner nozzles, thermocouple protection pipes as well as special-shaped structural parts with special shaped structural parts with special properties that make use of its lower hardness and use temperature properties.
Corrosion Resistance
Silicon carbide is one of the most advanced ceramic materials currently available, second only in hardness to diamond and cubic boron nitride. Furthermore, it boasts many desirable properties which make it suitable for many applications.
As an example, aluminum is highly resistant to chemical corrosion. Additionally, its thermal expansion coefficient (CTE) makes it a good choice for load-bearing components that must tolerate rapid temperature changes.
IPS ceramics composed of SiC and B4C are widely utilized as armour ceramics in light armour designs due to their exceptional load-bearing properties, high thermal shock resistance, low density, extreme hardness/abrasion resistance and remarkable chemical inertness in hostile environments.
However, their primary drawbacks include their high cost and brittleness compared to alumina tiles, and poor tile corner performance compared to them. To address these challenges we have created an innovative direct sintering technology capable of creating high-performance silicon carbide tiles at reduced costs with improved corner performance.
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