Let's discuss the advantages and disadvantages of boron carbide hot isostatic pressing sintering and discharge plasma sintering

Hot isostatic pressing sintering

Hot isostatic pressing sintering of boron carbide involves placing powder compacts or encapsulated powders into high-pressure containers. Inert gases (such as N2 and Ar) can be used as pressure transfer media without the need for sintering aids, subjecting the powders to isotropic pressure and reducing sintering temperature. This results in the production of boron carbide ceramic materials with fine crystal microstructure, high bending strength, and density.

Hot isostatic pressing sintering is a simple and low-cost preparation technology that can produce high-density, high-strength, and uniformly distributed grain products. This technology can achieve one-time molding of structurally complex products. The disadvantage is that the equipment investment is large and the equipment price is expensive.

Spark plasma sintering

The discharge plasma sintering (SPS), which has developed in recent years, is a new rapid sintering process that can achieve low-temperature, rapid and efficient sintering of materials. It is a new powder metallurgy sintering technology that uses upper and lower die punching and electrified electrodes to apply specific sintering power and pressing pressure to sintered powder, and completes the production of high-performance materials through discharge activation, thermoplastic deformation, and cooling.

The preparation of boron carbide materials using discharge plasma sintering has the characteristics of rapid heating, short sintering time, low sintering temperature, and high sintering efficiency. Spark plasma sintering can fully control the growth of boron carbide grains, and the products have fine grains, high density, and excellent mechanical properties.