Structure and properties of hot-pressed materials based on AlB12C2

Abstract

The results are presented on the investigation of the structure and mechanical properties of hot-pressed materials based on AlB₁₂C₂ powders of sizes 50–150 nm. It is shown that the consolidated materials having mechanical properties comparable with boron carbide may be produced at essentially lower (by 270–300°C) sintering temperatures. It has been established that the heating rate at compressing affects the stoichiometry of the impurity phase containing Al, B, O, which define the difference in mechanical properties of the materials (a decrease of the heating rate results in the insignifical decrease of the material hardness and increase of the fracture toughness).