Reaction Bonded Silicon Carbide
Reaction bonded silicon carbide is a grade of silicon carbide. The graph bars on the material properties cards below compare reaction bonded silicon carbide to other non-oxide engineering ceramics (top) and the entire database (bottom). A full bar means this is the highest value in the relevant set. A half-full bar means it's 50% of the highest, and so on.
Mechanical Properties
Compressive (Crushing) Strength
2780 MPa 400 x 103 psi
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus
370 GPa 54 x 106 psi
Flexural Strength
410 MPa 60 x 103 psi
Fracture Toughness
4.0 MPa-m1/2 3.6 x 103 psi-in1/2
Knoop Hardness
2500
Poisson's Ratio
0.19
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS)
310 MPa 45 x 103 psi
Thermal Properties
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical
1160 °C 2120 °F
Maximum Thermal Shock
400 °C 750 °F
Specific Heat Capacity
1180 J/kg-K 0.28 BTU/lb-°F
Thermal Conductivity
140 W/m-K 78 BTU/h-ft-°F
Thermal Expansion
4.3 µm/m-K
Vicat Softening Temperature
400 °C 750 °F
Other Material Properties
Density
3.0 g/cm3 190 lb/ft3
Electrical Resistivity Order of Magnitude
0.94 10x Ω-m
Common Calculations
Stiffness to Weight: Axial
69 points
Stiffness to Weight: Bending
80 points
Strength to Weight: Axial
28 points
Strength to Weight: Bending
34 points
Thermal Diffusivity
38 mm2/s
Thermal Shock Resistance
14 points
Followup Questions
Further Reading
Properties of Silicon Carbide, Gary L. Harris (editor), 1995
Silicon Carbine Ceramics: Fundamental and Solid Reaction, Shigeyuki Somiya and Yoshizo Inomata (editors), 1991
Handbook of Refractory Carbides and Nitrides: Properties, Characteristics, Processing and Applications, Hugh O. Pierson, 1996
Ceramics and Composites: Processing Methods, Narottam P. Bansal and Aldo R. Boccaccini (editors), 2012
Springer Handbook of Condensed Matter and Materials Data, W. Martienssen and H. Warlimont (editors), 2005
Sintering of Advanced Materials: Fundamentals and Processes, Zhigang Zak Fang (editor), 2010