WEI Hongkang 1, WANG Chang’an 1,2, XIE Zhipeng 1,2, DENG Xiangyu 1
(1. Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, Jingdezhen 333403, Jiangxi, China; 2. Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China)
Abstract: In this paper, boron carbide powders were prepared by spark plasma sintering at 1600 °C. The effects of holding time and sintering pressure on their sintering behavior and mechanical properties were investigated. The phase composition and microstructure of the sintered products were analyzed by XRD and SEM. The results indicate that the increase of holding time and sintering pressure is beneficial for the improvement of their density and mechanical properties. The maximum densification rate could be reached when sintered at 1500 ~ 1600 ℃, and the shrinkage stopped when the holding time was 13 min.
Key words: boron carbide; spark plasma sintering; sintering behavior; mechanical properties; microstructure