Abstract
Boron carbide compacts were produced by pressureless sintering at 2200°C/2h and 2250°C/2h in Ar atmosphere, using a starting powder with a particle size smaller than 3µm. Effects of carbon addition (3.5wt%) and methanol washing of the starting powder were investigated on the densification, Vickers hardness, and micro-abrasive wear resistance of the samples. The removal of oxide phases by methanol washing allowed the production, with no sintering additive, of highly densified (93.6% of theoretical density), hard (25.4GPa), and highly wear resistant (wear coefficient =2.9×10–14m3/N.m) boron carbide compacts sintered at 2250°C. This optimized combination of properties was a consequence of a reduced grain growth without the deleterious effects associated to the carbon addition. Methanol washing of the starting powder is a simple and general approach to produce, without additives, high quality, wear resistant boron carbide compacts by pressureless sintering.
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