Static and dynamic mechanical properties of boron carbide processed by spark plasma sintering

Spark plasma sintering (SPS) has become a popular technique for the densification of covalent ceramics. The present investigation is focused on the static mechanical properties and dynamic compressive behavior of SPS consolidated boron carbide powder without any sintering additives. Fully dense boron carbide bodies were obtained by a short high temperature SPS treatment. The mechanical properties of the SPS-processed material, namely hardness (32 GPa), Young modulus (470 GPa), fracture toughness KC (3.9–4.9 MPa m0.5), flexural strength (430 MPa) and Hugoniot elastic limit (17–19 GPa) are close or even better than those of hot-pressed boron carbide.