Heat-resistant precision machined high quality silicon nitride ceramic blocks

Overview of Silicon Nitride Ceramic Blocks

Silicon Nitride Ceramic Blocks are a high-performance ceramic material. Silicon Nitride Ceramic Blocks are characterized by high strength, high hardness, high temperature and deformation resistance, good wear resistance and corrosion resistance. At the same time, silicon nitride ceramic block also has excellent insulation properties and chemical stability. These characteristics make it widely used in machinery manufacturing, aerospace, electronics and many other fields, and can be used to manufacture cutting tools, engine components, integrated circuit substrates and so on.

Features of Silicon Nitride Ceramic Blocks

Silicon Nitride Ceramic Blocks have the following distinctive features:

High strength and hardness: Silicon Nitride Ceramic Blocks are extremely strong and hard, with their hardness second only to diamond and a few other substances. This makes it excellent in the manufacture of wear-resistant parts, such as cutting tools and bearings in machining, etc. It is able to withstand high loads and pressures in the working environment, greatly extending its service life.

Good high-temperature resistance: Silicon nitride ceramic block has excellent high-temperature resistance and can maintain good mechanical properties and stability in high-temperature environments. Its melting point is as high as about 1900 ℃, can withstand extremely high temperatures but does not easy to soften or deform, commonly used in aerospace engine hot end parts metallurgical industry, such as high-temperature furnace lining, effectively improving the reliability and efficiency of the equipment in high-temperature working conditions.

Strong chemical stability: Silicon nitride ceramic block has excellent corrosion resistance to most acids, alkalis, salts and other chemicals and can still maintain stable performance in harsh chemical environments. This characteristic makes it widely used in the chemical industry, petroleum and other fields of corrosion-resistant pipes, reactor lining, etc. It can resist the erosion of various corrosive media and reduce the cost of equipment maintenance and replacement.

Good insulation: it is an excellent electrical insulating material with high resistivity and low dielectric constant, which can effectively prevent the passage of electric current and prevent leakage and short-circuit phenomena from occurring. Therefore, it is widely used in the electronic industry for the manufacture of integrated circuit substrates, electronic component packaging, etc., to ensure the normal operation and safety of electronic equipment.

Specifications Table of Silicon Nitride Ceramic Blocks

Property	Gas – pressure Sintered Si₃N₄	Hot – pressed Sintered Si₃N₄
Density (g/cm³)	3.2	3.3
Flexural Strength (MPa)	700	900
Young’s Modulus (GPa)	300	300
Poisson’s Ratio	0.25	0.28
Compressive Strength (MPa)	2500	3000
Hardness (GPa)	15	16
Fracture Toughness (MPa·m¹/²)	5 – 7	6 – 8
Maximum Working Temperature (℃)	1100	1300
Thermal Conductivity (W/m·K)	20	25
Thermal Expansion Coefficient (℃⁻¹)	3×10⁻⁶	3.1×10⁻⁶
Thermal Shock Resistance (ΔT, ℃)	550	800

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Applications of Silicon Nitride Ceramic Blocks

Silicon Nitride Ceramic Blocks have a wide range of applications in many fields due to their excellent performance:

Mechanical industry: Silicon Nitride Ceramic Blocks can be used to make cutting tools, its high hardness and wear resistance make it able to cut all kinds of metal materials at high speed, improve the machining efficiency and precision, and long tool life. In manufacturing bearings, silicon nitride ceramic blocks can withstand high loads, reduce the coefficient of friction, reduce energy loss, and improve the stability and reliability of mechanical systems.

Aerospace field: Silicon nitride ceramic blocks can be used to manufacture hot end parts of engines, such as turbine blades and combustion chambers. Its high-temperature resistant and high-strength characteristics can maintain good performance under the harsh working environment of high temperature and high pressure, reduce the weight of the engine, improve fuel efficiency, and enhance the overall performance of the aviation engine.

Electronic industry: silicon nitride ceramic block as an integrated circuit substrate, with good insulation and thermal stability, can effectively isolate the circuit components, to ensure the accurate transmission of electronic signals, and at the same time, can be quickly dissipated to ensure that the chip and other electronic components in the work of the performance of the stability. It can also be used to manufacture electronic encapsulation materials to protect the internal electronic components from the influence of the external environment.

Chemical industry: Silicon nitride ceramic blocks can be used to make reactor linings, pipes and valves. With its strong chemical stability, it can resist the erosion of various strong acids, alkalis and corrosive media, prolong the service life of the equipment, reduce the maintenance cost, and guarantee the safety and stability of the chemical production process.

Company Profile

RBOSCHCO is a trusted global chemical material supplier & manufacturer with over 12 years of experience in providing super high-quality chemicals and Nanomaterials. The company exports to many countries, such as the USA, Canada, Europe, UAE, South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Egypt, Nigeria, Cameroon, Uganda, Turkey, Mexico, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Dubai, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, Portugal etc. As a leading nanotechnology development manufacturer, RBOSCHCO dominates the market. Our professional work team provides perfect solutions to help improve the efficiency of various industries, create value, and easily cope with various challenges. If you are interested, please send an email to sales1@rboschco.com

Payment Term

T/T, Western Union, Paypal, Credit Card etc.

Shipment Term

By air, by sea, by express, as customers request.

5 FAQs of Silicon Nitride Ceramic Blocks

Q1: Why is silicon nitride ceramic block brittle? How to improve it?

Silicon nitride consists of strong covalent bonds with few dislocation slip systems, resulting in intrinsic brittleness and a fracture toughness of only 6 MPa・m¹/². Improvement methods include:

Self-toughening process: Controlled sintering process to form long columnar β-Si₃N₄ grains to improve crack extension resistance.

The addition of sintering additives, e.g., rare earth oxides (Y₂O₃), can optimize grain boundary phases and enhance toughness.

Composite toughening: introduction of second phase, such as carbon fiber, carbon nanotubes, etc., to absorb energy through the pull-out effect

Q2: Is it difficult to process silicon nitride ceramic blocks? What process is required?

Processing is difficult and requires special processes:

Precision grinding: using a diamond grinding wheel or magnetorheological polishing, the surface roughness can be reduced to Ra<10 nm.

Ultrasonic-assisted machining: Reduces cutting forces through high-frequency vibration and reduces thermal damage.

Laser / EDM: for complex microstructures (e.g., holes in electronics).

Reaction Sintering: Near net molding, shrinkage < 0.1%, suitable for complex shapes.

Q3: Why is the cost of silicon nitride ceramic blocks higher?

The cost mainly stems from the following:

Raw material purity: 99.9% or more high-purity Si₃N₄ powder is required.

Sintering process: Air-pressure sintering and hot-pressure sintering require high temperature and high-pressure equipment and high energy consumption.

Processing efficiency: precision machining is time-consuming, and tool loss is high.

Yield: low yield due to brittleness.

Comprehensive cost is about 5-10 times that of stainless steel, but if you consider the life advantage (e.g., bearing life increased by 3 times), the long-term cost may be even lower.

Q4: How do I maintain my silicon nitride ceramic block?

Storage environment: Dry and ventilated; avoid humidity that may cause performance degradation.

Handling protection: Use soft packaging, carry and place gently to prevent shattering from impact.

Cleaning method: Wipe with water or neutral cleaner to avoid corrosion of acid and alkali substances.

Regular inspection: Observe surface cracks and replace damaged parts in time.

Q5: What factors affect the service life of silicon nitride ceramic block?

Working environment: high temperature and corrosive media (such as hydrofluoric acid) accelerate aging.

Mechanical load: cyclic stress is easy to trigger fatigue cracks.

Processing quality: surface defects (such as micro-cracks) significantly reduce the life.

Maintenance measures: correct maintenance can extend the life of more than 30%.