Some Useful Facts of Silicon Carbide
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Carborundum is the other name for silicon carbide. This compound as the name suggests is made up of carbon and silicon elements. SiC is the chemical formula for this compound. It occurs naturally in the form of moissanite, which is a mineral compound. It is presently being used as abrasive which is the reason for its mass production for several years.
Bonding small granites help to form hard ceramics by the process of sintering. The ceramics are used in car brakes, ceramic plates, bulletproof vests, and car clutches. Even the light emitting diodes are incomplete without these ceramics. These are also used in the semiconductors of the high voltage areas. With the help of Lely process, larger crystals of carborundum are made which can be cut into structures of gems.
Details about the compound
Carbide is hard bonded by a covalent bond with silica that has been reduced by the carbothermal process. The resultant formed is in groundmass state or finely powdered that depends on the exact reaction situation.
Properties of the compound
Several properties of carborundum materials are there. The melting point of silicon carbide is high. The thermal conductivity is high and hence the thermal expansion is lower. Silicon carbide is hard and is resistant to corrosion. It is greatly stiff. The properties of carbide are interesting because of the varied semiconductor features.
Silicon carbide and its commercial grading
These are used in the engineering applications commercially. There are primarily three forms of these compounds- one is the nitride bonded carborundum, the second one is the reaction bonded carborundum, and last but not the least is the sintered carborundum.
The types of silicon carbide are many. They are mainly siaion bonded silicon carbide and the clay-bonded ones. Clay-bonded silicon carbide is useful for refractory applications depending on the needs of manufacturing.
Benefits of carborundum in electric voltage purposes are many. This compound has a greater voltage acceptance than silicon. Switches made out of them can be placed in series. These are useful for several high voltage requirements. It minimizes the complexity of the system. The best part of these compounds is that they are cost effective and can be relied on. It can be placed in the higher temperature areas that have 400 degree or more which is much more than silicon. These also reduce the cooling costs and the complex issues that are associated with the high voltage areas.
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Source by Urvi Tandon