Fabrication of the Liquid Phase Sintered Boron Carbide Composites

Boron carbide materials exhibit excellent mechanical properties such as high hardness and wear resistance. However, boron carbides are difficult to sinter, especially in boron-rich regions, because of the low self-diffusion coefficient caused by the strong covalent bonding of boron. To improve the sinterability of boron carbides,we disscussed the sintering conditions. we applied Reaction Boronizing Sintering (RBS), using an eutectic reaction between boron and 3d transition metals to the synthesis and SPS consolidation and promote the densification of boron carbide base materials. Boron carbide materials were prepared by powder metallurgy using the spark plasma sintering method from amorphous boron powder, carbon powder, and metal powders, such as Co and Ni. The Densification of the boron carbide materials was promoted by the metal addition, while the microstructure of the spark-sintered samples was largely different.