Quantitative investigation of oxidation behavior of boron carbide powders in air

• The oxidation of B4C powders with different particle size has been investigated.
• The effect of the particle size on the oxidation is quantitatively discussed.
• Comparison between the models used in the literatures and our model is given.

The oxidation kinetics of B4C powders with different particle size in air has been investigated both from experimental and theoretical aspects based on current literatures. The oxidation mechanism shows that the oxidation rate strongly depends on the particle size of B4C powders and temperature. Based on the experimental data, the effects of temperature, especially the particle size on the oxidation kinetics of B4C powders in air under both non-isothermal and isothermal conditions are quantitatively discussed using Chou’s model. The calculated results agree well with the experimental data. Compared with the kinetic model used in the literatures, the model used in our work, i.e., Chou’s model is preferred because it can not only give a clear physical meaning expressing all parameters but also perform a simple and more accurate calculation result.