Effect of conditions of hot pressing on the structure and mechanical properties of boron carbide

Researches designed to improve the strength properties of hot-pressed parts made of carbide (B4C) involve mainly exploring possible ways of reducing their porosity, preserving their fine-grained structure, and lowering internal stresses in them. In [i, 2] it is shown that compacts produced from B4C powders by hot pressing at temperatures of 2323~ and higher are characterized not only by low porosity but also by a large grain. It has been established [3] that an increase in the grain size of hot-pressed B~C from 5 to 140 Dm lowers its strength to the same extent as does an increase in its porosity from 2 to 46%. Yet published data on the effect of hot-pressing pressure on the structure and properties of boron carbide are apparently nonexistent.