OXIDATION STABILITY OF B4C-MEXBY COMPOSITE-MATERIALS

The oxidation behaviour of the composite materials B4C-ZrB2, B4C-CrB2 and B4C-W2B5 is investigated. The samples are obtained by activated si ntering at 2150-2250-degrees-C in argon. The experiments are carried o ut in dry air or oxygen up to 1300-degrees-C. The behaviour of the sin tered materials is very similar to that of non-porous samples of B4C o btained by hot pressing. The results obtained show that B4C-MexBy poss ess higher oxidation stability than hot-pressed boron carbide samples. The possibility of producing a wide range of composite materials base d on B4C by activated sintering is shown.