An alternative method for processing Si-doped boron carbide

Boron carbide suffers from an unexpected catastrophic failure during high pressure and high-velocity impacts. The anomaly has been rooted in the formation of the nano-sized amorphous bands in the crystals of boron carbide, leading to a loss of shear strength. Si-doping has been offered as a remedy for amorphization. Experimentally, Si-doped boron carbide was prepared using reaction sintering that usually resulted in large grain growths and consequently a loss in mechanical properties. In this work, an alternative method composed of three steps were devised to process Si-doped boron carbide. First, a blend of boron carbide, boron, and silicon powders was melted to prereact the mixture. Second, the prereacted mixture was pulverized and grounded into fine powders for sintering. Lastly, the powders were sintered using conventional sintering methods to obtain materials in bulk. The details of the processing method and properties of the bulk materials were elucidated.