Abstract
Due to the large thermal neutron absorption cross section of 10B, B4C-Al composites have been used as neutron absorbing materials in nuclear industries, which can offer not only good neutron shielding performance but also excellent mechanical properties. The distribution of B4C particles affects the mechanical performance and efficiency of the thermal neutron absorption of the composite materials. In this study, 15 wt % B4C-Al and 20 wt % B4C-Al composites were prepared using a powder metallurgy process, i.e., ball milling followed by pressing, sintering, hot-extrusion, and hot-rolling. The yield and tensile strengths of the composites were markedly increased with an increase in the milling energy and the percentages of B4C particles. Microstructure analysis and neutron radiography revealed that the high-energy ball milling induced the homogeneous distribution of B4C particles in the Al matrix and good bonding between the Al matrix and the B4C particles. The load transfer ability and mechanical properties of the composites were consequently improved. The results showed the high-energy ball milling process is an appropriate fabrication procedure to prevent the agglomeration of the reinforcement particles even if the matrix to reinforcement particle size ratio was nearly 10.
Highlights
Aluminum-based metal matrix composites (MMCs) generally show low density, low coefficient of thermal expansion, and high specific strength and modulus, etc.; they have been widely used in aerospace, military weapons, structural applications, and automobile products [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
For the Boron carbide (B4 C)-Al composites prepared in this study, the distribution of the B4 C particle could affect the properties of the thermal neutron absorption of the composite materials, which is mainly due to the differences of B-10 density in the matrix
As-received B4 C-Al composites prepared under different conditions
Summary
Aluminum-based metal matrix composites (MMCs) generally show low density, low coefficient of thermal expansion, and high specific strength and modulus, etc.; they have been widely used in aerospace, military weapons, structural applications, and automobile products [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. The clustering of the reinforced particles tends to takes place when the particle size of the matrix exceeds that of the reinforcement significantly, which will worsen the mechanical properties of the composites [3]. The powder mixtures of Al and B4 C were ball-milled at different energy levels followed by pressing, sintering, hot-extrusion, and hot-rolling to improve the mechanical and neutron absorption properties of the B4 C-Al composite. For the B4 C-Al composites prepared in this study, the distribution of the B4 C particle could affect the properties of the thermal neutron absorption of the composite materials, which is mainly due to the differences of B-10 density in the matrix. It was revealed that the high-energy ball milling was crucial to the uniform distribution of the B4 C particles and the enhancement of the mechanical properties of the B4 C-Al composite plates
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