Specialty Ceramics
Saint-Gobain Performance Ceramics & Refractories’ specialty ceramics' products help customers to address unique challenges in thermal and chemical processing, heat exchangers, industrial metrology, temperature sensing, brazing, mechanical seals, semiconductor wafer processing, sandblasting and renewable energy generation applications.
The specialty ceramics portfolio consists of a wide range of products, sold as well-known brands:
- Hexoloy® sintered silicon carbide
- Norbide® hot pressed boron carbide
- Noralide® hot pressed silicon nitride
- Silit® siliconized silicon carbide
- Advancer® N-Durance, Refrax 20E nitride bonded silicon carbide
- Alundum® Aluminum oxide materials
- Magnorite® MgO materials
- Durafrax® Alumina materials
- Lithafrax™ Lithium Aluminum Silicate inorganic fillers
Saint-Gobain Performance Ceramics & Refractories’ utilize materials expertise, innovative designs, creative engineering and precision manufacturing processes to deliver reliable solutions to global customers in automotive, chemical, aerospace, non-ferrous metals, nuclear and other renewable energy, industrial pumps and sealing industries; as well as OEM equipment makers and machine shops.
Solution By Application
Click on your application to find more:
- Ceramic Labware
- Corrosion Resistant Ceramics
- High Accuracy CMM and Motion Control Equipment
- Nozzles
- Nuclear Reactors
- Semiconductor Wafer Processing
- Shell & Tube Heat Exchangers
- Thermal Processing
- Thermocouple and Sensor Protection Tubes
High Accuracy CMM and Motion Control Equipment
Silicon Carbide Ceramics for Metrology
Saint-Gobain Performance Ceramics & Refractories’ SiSiC and NSiC products ensure high precision, accuracy and speed in industrial metrology equipment, including:
- CMM and positioning equipment
- CMM bridges
- Z-axis
- Guide rails
- Air-bearing stages
Silicon carbide offers many advantages over traditional ceramic materials, particularly alumina ceramic, aluminum, steel and granite. These include:
- Lightweight (~20% less)
- High specific stiffness (~25% higher)
- Low thermal expansion (~50% less)
- High thermal stability
Product Choices For Metrology Equipment
| Density (g/cc) | Specific Stifness | Thermal Conductivity (W/m⋅K) | Thermal Expansion (10-6/K) | |
| Granite | 2.8 - 2.9 | 21 - 32 | 3 | 5 - 7 |
| Alumina | 3.95 | 96 | 20 | 8 |
| Steel | 7.88 | 27 | 47 | 12 |
| Aluminium | 2.69 | 26 | 204 | 22.5 |
| Advancer (NSiC) | 2.8 | 86 | 20 | 4.4 |
| Silit (SiSiC) | 3 | 117 | 140 | 4.5 |
| Hexoloy (SSiC) | 3.1 | 132 | 125 | 4 |
FAQ
How can positioning equipment make use of silicon carbide ceramics?
Silicon carbide plates are an excellent choice for the air-bearing stage used in positioning equipment, particularly for semiconductor wafer inspection where it is advisable to ensure a close match between thermal expansion of the silicon wafer and silicon carbide stage.
How do the properties of silicon carbide compare with those of aluminum oxide?
Compared to alumina oxide, silicon carbide is a lighter material, has lower thermal expansion, higher thermal conductivity and higher specific stiffness.
Why should metrology equipment designers choose silicon carbide for structural components?
Structural components, such as Z-axis, bridge and support columns are more lightweight when made with silicon carbide, allowing faster travel and increased capacity to accommodate temperature changes.
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