Advances in manufacturing boron carbide-aluminum composites

An infiltration method for preparing a boron carbide-aluminum (B4C-Al) composite was modified so as to reduce the processing temperature and time. Titanium metal and titanium-based compounds were added to B4C powders to enhance the wettability of the liquid aluminum on boron carbide skeletons. As expected, the time required for infiltration was significantly reduced on using the additives. Of these additives titanium metal was the most effective in facilitating aluminum infiltration. Another method, involving the heat treatment of boron carbide compacts at 1300degreesC for 1 h before infiltration, was attempted, and a significant improvement was gained. These findings show that the treatment modified the surface condition of boron carbide powders via the removal of oxides. An additional attempt was made to increase the boron carbide content of the system by using a bimodal powder mixture. A maximum green density of 78% was achieved by mixing fine particle size and coarse particle size powders. The infiltrated boron carbide composites prepared using a bimodal powder with a preinfiltration heat treatment of the compacts exhibited promising mechanical properties, such as a Vickers hardness (H-v) of 11 Gpa and an indentation toughness (K-IC) in the range of 5-7.5 MPa(.)m(1/2).