Complete 3D simulations of a silicon carbide chemical vapor deposition (CVD) reactor, including inductive heating and fluid dynamics as well as gas phase and surface chemistry, have been performed. For the validation of simulated results, growth was conducted in a horizontal hot-wall CVD reactor operating at 1600degreesC, using SiH4 and C3H8 as precursor gases. Simulations were performed for an experimental hot-wall CVD reactor, but the results are applicable to any reactor configuration since no adjustable parameters were used to fit experimental data. The simulated results obtained are in very good agreement with experimental values. It is shown that including etching and parasitic growth on all reactor walls exposed to the gas greatly improves the accuracy of the simulations. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.