Silicon Carbide – A Powerful Blast Media

Aluminum oxide and silicon carbide are among the most frequently chosen abrasives for blasting applications, offering various degrees of wear resistance and cost.

Both options work efficiently when it comes to removing rust and paint, deburring metal, etching glass and more – but which one is the right one for your application? Black silicon carbide is an extremely hard man-made ceramic abrasive that ranks 9.1 on Mohs scale.

Versatility

Silicon carbide is a versatile abrasive that excels in many applications, particularly those where precise surface finishes are important, like aerospace or automotive industries. Furthermore, silicon carbide’s excellent cutting performance also plays a significant role in restoration work by helping remove paint, rust or any contaminants from surfaces quickly and effectively.

Silicon carbide differs from other blast media in that it’s very hard and sharp, making it effective at peeling away tough coatings more efficiently than its rivals such as sand or aluminum oxide. Furthermore, this means it requires much lower blast pressure compared to its peers, making it both environmentally-friendly and cost-efficient.

Steel shot blast media is widely considered one of the most durable blast media solutions, making it popular across a range of industries and applications. Being resistant to both heat and corrosion makes steel shot an excellent choice for projects in harsh environments like marine, aerospace or industrial settings; as well as being suitable for high precision/heavy duty projects like those found within energy industry applications.

Silicon carbide occurs naturally as the rare mineral moissanite; however, its industrial application has long been manufactured through electric internal resistance furnaces using silica sand and petroleum coke as raw material. Once produced it may either be colorless or brown to black in hue; darker varieties often contain iron impurities which reduce its metallic conductivity. Doping options also exist such as doping with n-type phosphorus nitrogen or beryllium to further increase metallic conductivity.

Hardness

In recent years, abrasive blasting industry trends have seen a shift away from natural materials like sand and glass to synthetic ones such as aluminum oxide, garnet, and silicon carbide due to their superior hardness, recyclability, and efficiency. Silicon carbide stands out as one of the hardest known materials, used across cutting tools, blasting media, non-slip coatings, non-slip flooring systems, non-slip coatings as cutting tool material as well as non-slip flooring systems due to its fast cutting speed, smooth surface finish quality and overall efficiency.

Black silicon carbide (also referred to as Carborundum) is a manufactured abrasive with an extremely hard and sharp abrasive grit, ideal for aggressive applications that need an aggressive material like powering away heavy rust or prepping surfaces for painting. Furthermore, its non slip surface makes it an excellent choice when wanting a longer-term non slip surface solution.

This blasting media consists of hard, sharp abrasive granules bonded together with ceramic material to form an incredibly durable material with low thermal expansion and high temperature strength. Cut with diamond blades, large blocks are commonly found inside bulletproof vests or used as mirrors on telescopes.

Hard, sharp materials like diamond are ideal for light blasting projects requiring light blasting. Used to etch stone or glass surfaces, diamond is also the optimal medium for eliminating rust from concrete structures.

Environmentally Friendly

While traditional blasting media such as sand and glass may still be used, synthetic abrasives have recently seen an upsurge in usage due to their superior hardness and recyclability. Silicon carbide, for example, is an extremely durable synthetic ceramic material made up of hard grains that cut quickly; making it the ideal solution for etching glass surfaces, stones or any hard surface quickly and easily.

Also, stainless steel offers excellent resistance to corrosion caused by acid and alkalis, is extremely durable, and does not easily brittle, making it the ideal material for use in harsh environments for abrasive blasting applications.

Silicon carbide abrasives offer several distinct advantages over aluminum oxide in terms of environmental friendliness and debris production during blasting processes, due to less friction being generated during blasting operations and their faster and sharper nature.

Silicon carbide abrasives are ideal for quickly and safely dismantling heavily rusted metal parts and stubborn paint and coatings, and can even be used alongside aluminum oxide in finishing operations for residue removal and polishing to help save wear-and-tear on less durable abrasives, and extend their lifetime. Silicon carbide’s versatility also allows it to be used both directly-pressure and suction-based systems for use, while it may help in finishing operations for general residue removal and polishing purposes. This can help save wear on less durable abrasives while prolonging their lives as a result.

Safety

silicon carbide blast media poses some safety risks when used incorrectly; however, when used correctly it’s relatively safe. Like any airborne abrasive material, silicon carbide requires appropriate PPE when working with this material; such as eyewear, dust masks and gloves. Furthermore, for optimal safety during blasting operations it should also be housed in an appropriately ventilated blast room to minimize dust exposure; also essential is meeting all relevant governmental standards regarding blasting operations.

Black silicon carbide abrasives are widely used for fast-stripping hard non-ferrous metals, ceramics and some softer materials like wood and rubber. Black silicon carbide excels at etching surfaces while cleaning and polishing surfaces; its extreme hardness also makes it less ideal for blasting steel; additionally, its brittleness may cause it to wear away more rapidly than other abrasives.

Aluminum oxide abrasive powder is a more resilient abrasive that works well on hard materials like wood and most metals, such as stripping surfaces for stripping or cleaning, etching applications or stripping striping jobs. Aluminum oxide may also be combined with more aggressive abrasives for finishing applications like etching.

Other common types of abrasive include glass beads, silicon carbide, white or brown aluminum oxide and blasting garnet – all suitable for pressure and suction systems. All the abrasives that we sell adhere to OSHA regulations regarding silica exposure and come complete with a Material Data Safety Sheet for added peace of mind.