Boron Carbide
To check the suitability of B4C in your application/environment or to receive advice on materials selection, please contact one of our Sales Engineers on 01270 501000.
Hot-pressed boron carbide is one of the hardest materials available in commercial shapes, and gives outstanding resistance to abrasive wear.
B4C can be polished to a mirror finish and has good resistance to acids. It is refractory and chemically inert, but less resistant to oxidation than silicon carbide.
Boron Carbide tends to contain second-phase graphite and it is this property which has a major influence on the strength of the material.
The composition ranges from B4C at 78.25 wt% boron to at least B6.5C at 85.4 wt% boron.
Production of Boron Carbide
Commercial boron carbide is produced by reacting and fusing boric oxide and carbon, in an electric arc furnace. B4C does not melt congruently, therefore the liquid in contact with the boron carbide, does not have the same composition as the solid. This means that the liquid must be solidified at a rate so that the liquid and solid don”t reach an equilibrium.
The material which is in a molten state becomes increasingly rich in carbon, therefore when the liquid solidifies its composition is one of boron carbide and graphite.
Hot pressing (including hot isostatic pressing) is a way of producing covalent ceramic materials such as B4C, which are fully dense and in pure single-phase form. Hot pressing limits the size and complexity of shapes which can be produced, to shape these diamond grinding is used.
Properties:
- Low thermal conductivity
- Susceptible to thermal shock failure
- Outstanding hardness
- Extremely brittle
- Semiconductor
- Good thermal-neutron capture
Typical Uses:
- Thermal-neutron absorber
- Loose abrasive
- Nozzles for abrasive slurries
- Wear applications (Load compressing or sliding)
If you would like more information on Boron Carbide (B4C), please feel free to call our friendly team on 01270 501000.
