Chemical and structural characterization of boron carbide powders and ceramics
Creators: name: Kuwelkar, Kanak Anant
Publisher: name: No Publisher Supplied
Year: 2016

description: Boron carbide is the material of choice for lightweight armor applications due to its extreme hardness, high Young's modulus and low specific weight. The homogeneity range in boron carbide extends from ~9 to ~20 at% carbon with the solubility limits not uniquely defined in literature. Over the homogeneity range, the exact lattice positions of boron and carbon atoms have not been unambiguously established, and this topic has been the consideration of significant debate over the last 60 years. The atomic configuration and positions of the boron and carbon atoms play a key role in the crystal structure of the boron carbide phases. Depending on the atomic structure, boron carbide exhibits different mechanical properties which may alter its ballistic performance under extreme dynamic conditions. This work focusses on refinement and development of analytical and chemical methods for an accurate determination of the boron carbide stoichiometry. These methods were then utilized to link structural changes of boron carbide across the solubility range to variations in mechanical properties.  After an extensive assessment of the currently employed characterization techniques, it was discerned that the largest source of uncertainty in the determination of the boron carbide stoichiometry was found to arise from the method utilized to evaluate the free carbon concentration. To this end, a modified spiking technique was introduced for free carbon determination where curve fitting techniques were employed to model the asymmetry of the 002 free carbon diffraction peak based on the amorphous, disordered and graphitic nature of carbon. A relationship was then established between the relative intensities of the carbon and boron carbide peaks to the percentage of added carbon and the free-carbon content was obtained by extrapolation.  Samples with varying chemistry and high purity were synthesized across the solubility range by hot pressing mixtures of amorphous boron and boron carbide. Vibrational mode frequencies and lattice parameter measurements from Rietveld refinement were correlated to the respective B:C ratios calculated using the developed characterization techniques. An expansion of the unit cell and change in slope in the lattice parameter-stoichiometry relationship were observed at more boron rich stoichiometries. These observations were justified through the proposal of a simplified structural model considering preferential substitution of boron atoms for carbon atoms in the icosahedra from 20 at% to 13.3 at% carbon, followed by formation of B-B bonds from 13.3 at % C to ~9 at% C. Hardness measurements uncovered decreased hardness values in boron rich boron carbide which was attributed to the formation of weaker unit cells. Load induced amorphization was also detected in all the indented materials.  Finally, experimental observations have shown that failure in boron carbide may be governed by a mechanism other than amorphization and synthesizing boron carbide with a modified microstructure at stoichiometries close to B4C may be the way forward to attain improved ballistic performance.