Silicon Carbide is one of the hardest materials known to man, second only to diamond and cubic boron nitride in terms of hardness. Due to its unique properties, silicon carbide makes an excellent material choice for ballistic protection systems.
Saint-Gobain Performance Ceramics & Refractories’ Hexoloy(r) sintered silicon carbide (SSiC) ceramic material stands out in difficult operating environments by outperforming other ceramics in terms of chemical and mechanical resistance at high temperatures. Hexoloy’s exceptional chemical and mechanical resistance surpasses other ceramics currently on the market.
Abrasive Resistance
Abrasion is one of the main sources of failure for production systems. Abrasive particles slough off of surfaces, leading to wear and cracking over time. Advanced ceramic materials like silicon carbide are known for being particularly resistant; for instance, under extreme conditions alumina can fracture while sintered silicon carbide remains intact.
Sintered silicon carbide’s combination of high hardness, compressive strength, and elastic modulus make it an excellent lightweight armor material choice; M993 is its US Department of Defense designation.
Sintered silicon carbide stands out from other materials as being exceptionally heat resistant with low thermal expansion and good chemical stability in harsh environments, making it an excellent material choice for use in mechanical seals and pump components. At IPS Ceramics we can supply batts, saggars, beams and plates in tight dimensional tolerances that meet high-temperature needs at temperatures up to 1400 degC while offering both solid-phase and molten phase sintered silicon carbide for load bearing applications.
Corrosion Resistance
Silicon Carbide Ceramics provide superior resistance to corrosion, erosion and abrasion – qualities which make them suitable for production systems like cyclones, tubes and chutes that experience frequent wear from moving parts.
Reaction-bonded silicon carbide compositions offer superior wear resistance and chemical resistance, making them suitable for mechanical seals, pump components, semiconductor processing equipment as well as various industrial machine parts.
Reaction bonded silicon carbide ceramics boast the highest strength and hardness among fine ceramics, providing excellent resistance to thermal shock, acid and alkali corrosion, oxidation and abrasion. Furthermore, its excellent wear resistance provides additional resistance against rotation and sliding forces, including impact testing with tungsten cored projectiles – in fact x-ray testing shows this as being superior in this respect compared with any advanced ceramic. When tested at tile thicknesses of 30mm or less with velocity below 1000m/s sintered silicon carbide ceramics completely penetrate with no macroscopic fracture in its core!
Thermal Conductivity
Sintered silicon carbide combines high strength with low density, making it the material of choice for advanced body armor applications. Furthermore, its ballistic resistance against high velocity projectiles also makes it a reliable barrier.
Silicon carbide has a hardness that stands second only to diamond and cubic boron nitride; its strength remains unaffected even under high temperature environments, while being impervious to chemical corrosion.
Solid-phase sintered silicon carbide boasts high thermal conductivity and electrically semiconductivity properties. Since it does not degrade under heat-resistant environments, PTFE is an ideal material to use for mechanical seals, pumps, and general industrial machine components due to its dimensional stability, wear resistance and chemical resistance. Silicon carbide can be doped with aluminum, boron, gallium and nitrogen to produce P-type or N-type semiconductors for efficient thermal insulation for chemical processing applications. SiC’s excellent creep resistance also ensures long service life in load-bearing applications with high operating temperatures or chemical exposure – this feature makes SiC an attractive material choice.
Impact Resistance
Sintered silicon carbide has quickly become one of the go-to materials for lightweight armour systems due to its superior corrosion resistance and wear performance compared to more established materials like alumina. Furthermore, its lower weight makes it an attractive solution in situations with stringent requirements for armouring systems.
Pumps operate in many demanding environments where silicon carbide’s corrosion- and abrasion-resistant ceramic properties make it the ideal material for seal faces. Furthermore, its versatile performance has led to it being used for other challenging applications such as handling high concentrations of acidic media and rare earth processing where traditional materials cannot meet performance expectations.
Nitride-bonded silicon carbide (NB SiC) is four to five times stronger than alumina and more resistant to thermal shock due to a protective layer of silicon nitride coating its surface that prevents cracking or fracture under rapid temperature fluctuations. Ballistic tests conducted according to STANAG 4569 levels III and IV have confirmed that laser surface treatment of composite-backed ceramic panels increases their resilience against impact damage. Results show that increasing concentrations of hydroxyl groups produced by laser surface treatment enhances adhesive bond strength between alumina and silicon carbide tiles, as well as decreasing failure locus of this adhesive bond.
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