Green silicon carbide abrasive

Identity and scope

Fiven’s water-washed green SIKA ABR II sheet (2020/001) reports typical 99.20% SiC and 0.02% magnetic iron for macrograin and 99.00% SiC and 0.04% magnetic iron for micrograin. The magnetic-iron test leaves total iron unresolved. Lot limits require an agreed specification. Fiven ABR II, chemistry and disclaimer Washington Mills makes crude SiC in a resistance furnace, then crushes, mills and classifies it. Washington Mills, SiC production process

Washington Mills lists CARBOREX Green for blasting, lapping, grinding wheels and polishing. Finished product performance depends on the tool or formulation. Washington Mills, CARBOREX Green

Color, crystal structure, and grade

Pieplow & Brandt describes both its green GW+ and black BW+ as alpha SiC in hexagonal and rhombohedral classes. Its paired entries give 99.00% SiC for GW+ and 98.60% for BW+. These figures support a difference between those two products. They do not establish a universal composition threshold for green SiC. The structural descriptions do not identify the proportion of individual polytypes. Pieplow & Brandt, silicon carbide product data.

Synthesis is that color, crystal structure, and commercial grade describe different attributes. A green appearance alone does not establish one polytype, a treatment, a particle shape, or a lot's chemical analysis.

Fiven's SIKA ABR brochure separates green and black crystal grades, blocky and sharp particle shapes, and chemical treatment, water washing, or air dusting. These options are supplier-qualified attributes, rather than properties shared by every green grain. Fiven, SIKA ABR brochure, p. 5.

The individual 2020/001 sheets list these product ranges. The ABR II sheet starts its micrograin table at F240. Fiven, ABR I, ABR II.

The brochure instead lists ABR II micrograins from F230. This difference limits a document-independent availability claim. Fiven, SIKA ABR brochure, p. 6.

Chemistry depends on the product and size range

Fiven's SIKA ABR I sheet, revision 2020/001, describes chemically treated green macrograins and micrograins. Its typical values distinguish magnetic iron, MI, from Fe₂O₃. The blank cells below remain unreported, rather than zero. The sheet prints percentages without explicitly identifying a mass-fraction basis. Fiven, SIKA ABR I, chemistry table.

The ABR II sheet, also revision 2020/001, describes water-washed green grains. Its table reports different macrograin and micrograin compositions. These percentages also have no explicit mass-fraction label. Fiven, SIKA ABR II, chemistry table.

Both sheets name ANSI B74.15 for chemistry and ANSI B74.19 for magnetic iron, without edition years. Both distinguish typical characteristics from a separately agreed customer specification. Synthesis is that free carbon and free silicon are separate from the carbon and silicon chemically combined in SiC. MI cannot establish total iron or substitute for an Fe₂O₃ result. The tables are typical product descriptions, not lot acceptance limits. Fiven, ABR I methods and disclaimer, ABR II methods and disclaimer.

Particle size and measurement system

The public ISO scopes distinguish four size-distribution families for SiC and fused aluminium oxide. The table identifies scope, not the standards' paid sampling or acceptance requirements.

Fiven's brochure distinguishes ASTM sieve aperture from the 50% point for F, P, and JIS distributions. Its chart gives F600 at 9.3 µm, P600 at 25.8 µm, and JIS 600 at 20.0 µm. These are chart medians, not complete distributions or interchangeable specifications. Matching numerals do not establish matching particles. Fiven, SIKA ABR brochure, pp. 8–9 and chart footnote.

Fiven identifies FEPA 42-1 for macrograin distributions and FEPA 42-2 for micrograin distributions, without edition years. A size designation is a distribution specification, not one particle diameter. Fiven, ABR I analytical procedures.

Pieplow & Brandt describes vibratory sifting for macrograin classification and sedimentation for micrograin classification. This is its processing description, not proof that every producer uses the same instrument. Synthesis is that a microgrit result needs its distribution and measurement basis. A median alone leaves coarse and fine tails unspecified. Particle-size designation also does not quantify internal crystal size. Pieplow & Brandt, production and classification description.

Density, hardness, and fracture

ABR II uses FEPA 44-1 for macrograin loose-pack density, LPD, and 44-2 for micrograins. Its size column is labeled "Mean-Ø". Fiven, SIKA ABR II, LPD table and methods.

Washington Mills gives general SiC guideline values of 3.21 g/cm³ for specific density and 0.5–1.7 g/cm³ for bulk density. Its guideline hardness values are Mohs 9–10 and Knoop 25,000–30,000 N/mm². The page gives no Knoop indentation load. These are general SiC guidelines, not a green-grain lot certificate. Washington Mills, SiC properties.

Pieplow & Brandt instead prints GW+ hardness as 2,450 under "Knoop100" and specific gravity as 3.20 g/cc. The hardness entry has no printed unit. The density entry retains the supplier's dimensional label, although specific gravity conventionally denotes a dimensionless ratio. Neither entry is a loose-pack density. Pieplow & Brandt, GW+ physical data.

Washington Mills calls CARBOREX Green semi-friable. The public page supplies no numerical friability method or paired green-versus-black fracture result. Washington Mills, CARBOREX Green description.

Synthesis is that scratch hardness, indentation hardness, grain fracture, and loose packing describe different properties. A loose abrasive volume estimate requires the applicable packing density. A hardness value cannot by itself predict cutting rate, grain life, or finished roughness. No universal green-versus-black toughness or friability ranking follows from these sources.

Applications and evidence limits

Fiven identifies ABR I for vitrified or resin bonded wheels, honing, lapping, and polishing. These are application descriptions, not finished-product test results. Fiven, ABR I product description. Synthesis is that grain data leave wheel bond strength, speed rating, coolant suitability, and workpiece compatibility unresolved.

The source set includes the two 2020/001 Fiven sheets, the brochure identified by filename 230224_Fiven-Flyer-ABR.pdf, undated Washington Mills and Pieplow & Brandt pages, and the four public ISO edition records. Washington Mills' public green-product technical-sheet links led to a request form during this review. No inaccessible datasheet is treated as inspected evidence.

The reviewed evidence does not establish a universal green-SiC composition, exact polytype mixture, grinding rate, achievable finish, reuse life, service temperature, or safe exposure level. Dense structural ceramics, semiconductor crystals, and formulated slurries require separate evidence. Safety documentation concerns the supplied product and its hazards. It does not prove process performance. Customer-approved operating conditions and lot properties remain outside this generic reference.

Related references

• Black silicon carbide abrasive.
• Vitrified grinding wheels.
• Coated abrasive belts.
• Finishing process references.