Superior Strength With Reaction Bonded SiC

Reaction Bonded SiC (RBSC) Offers Superior Strength Reaction bonded silicon carbide (RBSC) boasts superior temperature strength, oxidation resistance and thermal shock resistance compared with its alternatives, making it suitable for use in mining and industry equipment such as kiln beams, posts, setters and burner nozzles – helping decrease thermal mass while increasing energy efficiency. It can also be found used as part of energy efficient burner nozzles that can save on energy usage costs.

RBSC has lower density and mechanical strength than sintered silicon carbide (SSiC), yet provides increased thermal shock resistance and can be formed into complex shapes more efficiently.

High Strength

RB SiC is an effective solution for high temperature applications in harsh environments. Available both as coarse- and fine-grained options, with the latter possessing lower hardness and maximum use temperatures than its predecessor but being more cost effective.

Reasonably graded RBSC exhibits high bulk density, low apparent porosity and excellent mechanical properties. SEM and optical observations reveal intergranular fracture modes which indicate strong bonding between SiC particles and Al matrix matrix.

RB SiC is manufactured by infiltrating molten silicon into porous carbon packed into the shape of the desired component and reacting with the carbon to produce silicon carbide, producing components with complex shapes suitable for high temperature applications and corrosion resistance, as well as providing increased wear resistance in high wear areas, thus decreasing downtime and increasing productivity with reduced wear resistance and wear resistance. With high strength properties that enable its use in applications like pumps, mechanical seals, bearings and flow control chokes.

Temperature Stability

Reaction bonded silicon carbide is a non-toxic and high strength material designed to withstand demanding industrial environments. To produce it, infiltrating porous silicon carbide preforms with liquid silicon causes its carbon structures to react and form additional silicon carbide molecules which then combine with alpha grains of the preform, creating additional material with superior properties than its original form.

RBSC boasts superior strength up to 1350degC, chemical stability and resistance to thermal shock – making it the ideal choice for applications involving demanding operating conditions. This is thanks to covalent bonding between Si and C that provides both high temperature strength and resistance against oxidation.

Fiber-bonded and sinterless ceramics were found to exhibit stable bending strength up to 1400degC with no change in failure mode or elastic moduli, though their high temperature bending strengths experienced some slight increase due to plastic deformation of free Si. Both materials also proved better at resisting thermal cycling than other nitride-bonded silicon carbide ceramics.

Thermal Shock Resistance

Silicon Carbide (RBSC) is one of the strongest materials known, boasting high oxidation and thermal shock resistance, high hardness, low specific weight, bending strength of up to 443 GPa at room temperature and excellent elastic modulus properties. However, over repeated thermal shock cycles its bending strength can quickly decrease due to free silicon weakening interface bond between carbon and SiC and potentially leading to rapid delamination.

Direct sintered silicon carbide (DSiC), made through the sintering process, is an advanced grade material with improved hardness and elevated use temperatures compared to its reaction bonded counterpart, making it suitable for more demanding environments. CVD SiC, another polycrystalline form of silicon carbide with superior thermal conductivity approaching 300 W/mK thermal conductivity properties is often specified for applications requiring superior heat dissipation capabilities.

Wear Resistance

Reaction bonded silicon carbide (RB SiC) offers exceptional wear resistance and long service life even in harsh conditions, making it the ideal material choice for demanding industrial applications like pumps, seals and bearings. Furthermore, its chemical inertness, thermal stability and strength make RB SiC superior to direct sintered silicon carbide (SSiC), often utilized for these functions.

Tensile strength of RB SiC was determined to depend on specimen size, likely due to reduced defects of critical size in smaller specimens. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) confirmed that its fracture mechanism involves cohesive failure in its interfacial amorphous Si layer.

Flexural strength and fracture toughness of RB SiC increased with increasing infiltration temperatures, reaching peak values at 1000 degC before declining precipitously due to transgranular fracture transitioning to intergranular fracture due to plastic deformation of free SiC particles. This was explained as plastic deformation of free particles of SiC.