Pressure Sintered (Hot Pressed) Boron Carbide
Hot pressed boron carbide is boron carbide in the hot isostatic pressed (HIP) condition. The graph bars on the material properties cards below compare hot pressed boron carbide to other non-oxide engineering ceramics (top) and the entire database (bottom). A full bar means this is the highest value in the relevant set. A half-full bar means it's 50% of the highest, and so on.
Mechanical Properties
Compressive (Crushing) Strength
2200 MPa 320 x 103 psi
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus
460 GPa 67 x 106 psi
Flexural Strength
410 MPa 59 x 103 psi
Fracture Toughness
2.5 MPa-m1/2 2.3 x 103 psi-in1/2
Knoop Hardness
3200
Poisson's Ratio
0.17
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS)
350 MPa 51 x 103 psi
Thermal Properties
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical
2000 °C 3630 °F
Specific Heat Capacity
950 J/kg-K 0.23 BTU/lb-°F
Thermal Conductivity
90 W/m-K 52 BTU/h-ft-°F
Thermal Expansion
5.6 µm/m-K
Other Material Properties
Density
2.5 g/cm3 160 lb/ft3
Dielectric Constant (Relative Permittivity) At 1 MHz
6.4
Electrical Resistivity Order of Magnitude
0 10x Ω-m
Common Calculations
Stiffness to Weight: Axial
100 points
Stiffness to Weight: Bending
100 points
Strength to Weight: Axial
39 points
Strength to Weight: Bending
44 points
Thermal Diffusivity
38 mm2/s
Thermal Shock Resistance
9.7 points
Followup Questions
Further Reading
Handbook of Refractory Carbides and Nitrides: Properties, Characteristics, Processing and Applications, Hugh O. Pierson, 1996
Springer Handbook of Condensed Matter and Materials Data, W. Martienssen and H. Warlimont (editors), 2005
Sintering of Advanced Materials: Fundamentals and Processes, Zhigang Zak Fang (editor), 2010