High-hardness B4C textured by a strong magnetic field technique

High-hardness B4C was prepared by sintering samples textured by a strong magnetic field alignment technique (12 T). The c-axis was highly oriented perpendicular to the applied magnetic field. The hardnesses measured on the surface perpendicular and parallel to c-axis were 38.86 ± 2.13 and 31.31 ± 0.79 GPa, respectively. The high values of hardness and elastic modulus were in agreement with those reported for B4.38C monocrystal.