Indicators for boron carbide ceramic

Density≥2.48g/cm³

Mico Hardness≥3500(kgf/mm2)

Bending Strength≥400(Mpa)

Melting Point   2450℃

Operating environment  High temperature,high grinding,high pressure,strong acid and alkali

Boron Carbide Machining & Grinding

Boron Carbide can be machined in green, biscuit, or fully dense states. While in the green or biscuit form it can be machined relatively easily into complex geometries. However, the sintering process that is required to fully densify the material causes the Boron Carbide body to shrink approximately 20%. This shrinkage means that it is impossible to hold very tight tolerances when machining Boron Carbide pre-sintering. In order to achieve very tight tolerances, fully sintered material must be machined/ground with diamond tools.  In this process a very precise diamond coated tool/wheel is used to abrade away the material until the desired form is created. Due to the inherit hardness of the material, this can be a time consuming and costly process.

Boron Carbide Applications

Abrasives

Due to its high hardness, Boron Carbide Powder is used as an abrasive in polishing and lapping applications also as a loose abrasive in cutting applications such as water jet cutting. It can also be used for dressing diamond tools.

Nozzles

The extreme hardness of Boron Carbide (B4C) gives it excellent wear and abrasion resistance and as a consequence it finds application as nozzles for slurry pumping, grit blasting and in water jet cutters.

Nuclear Applications

Its ability to absorb neutrons without forming lived radio-nuclides make the material attractive as an absorbent for neutron radiation arising in nuclear power plants. Because of its B10 isotope Boron Carbide applications include shielding and control rod and shut down pellets.

Ballistic Armour

Boron Carbide (B4C) in conjuction with other materials also find use as ballistic armour for personal and military use, the combination of high harness, elastic modulus and low density give the material an exceptionally high specific stopping power to protect high velocity projectiles.

Combustion in Solid Fuel Ramjets

The effect of bypass air momentum on the combustion efficiency of a Boron Carbide fueled solid fuel ramjet has been investigated theoretically. A 3D model of the flow in the aft-burner has been developed and solve numerically. The theoretical results indicate that combustion efficiency can be increased by employing bypass air with low dump momentum, in agreement with experimental results. High bypass air dump momentum was shown to enhance extinguishing of particle combustion through increased collisions with the motor walls.

Other Applications

Boron Carbide evaporation boats for material testing mortars and pestles, ceramic tooling dies, precision toll part.