Premium
Microstructural Characterization of a Commercial Hot‐Pressed Boron Carbide Armor Plate
Author(s) -
Xie Kelvin Y.,
Kuwelkar Kanak,
Haber Richard A.,
LaSalvia Jerry C.,
Hemker Kevin J.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of the american ceramic society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 196
eISSN - 1551-2916
pISSN - 0002-7820
DOI - 10.1111/jace.14295
Subject(s) - boron carbide , intergranular corrosion , materials science , carbide , metallurgy , graphite , boron , characterization (materials science) , hot pressing , microstructure , composite material , nanotechnology , chemistry , organic chemistry
Detailed microstructural characterization was carried out on a commercial‐grade hot‐pressed boron carbide armor plate. The boron carbide grains have close to B 4 C stoichiometry, and most of them have no planar defects. The most prominent second phase is intergranular graphite inclusions that are surrounded by multiple boron carbide grains. Submicrometer intragranular and intergranular BN and AlN precipitates were also observed. In addition, fine dispersions of AlN nanoprecipitates were observed in some but not all grains. No intergranular films were found. These microstructural characteristics are compared with the lab‐consolidated boron carbide and their effects on the mechanical properties of boron carbide are addressed.