PRESSURELESS SINTERING OF BC-NANOTiB, NANOCOMPOSITE BY ADDITION OF Fe AND Ni AS SINTERNG ADS

BC and its composites with TiB2 as second phase continues to be extensively used as the preferred ceramic material in military applications as armor systems for absorbing and dissipating kinetic energy from high velocity projectiles. It also exhibits a high melting point (2427 C), and high neutron absorption cross section. Pressureless sintering of the B4C-nanoTiBznanocomposite using small amount of Fe and Ni (s3 wt.%) as sintering aids was investigated in order to clarify the role of Fe and Ni additions on the mechanical and microstructural properties of BCnanoTiBananocomposites. Different amount of Fe and Ni, mainly 1 to 3 wt.% were added to the base material. Pressureless sintering was conducted at 2175, 2225and 2300 C. It was found that Addition of3wt% Fe and 3wt% Ni and sintering at 2300C resulted in improving the densityof the samples to about 99% of theoreticaldensity.Thenanocomposite samples exhibited high density, hardness, and microstructural uniformity.

Keywords:

BáC , TiB2 , PressurelessSintering , Nanocomposite , Sintering Aid