Boron Carbide Powders
Boron Carbide Powder
Background
Boron Carbide is a high performance abrasive material with chemical and physical properties similar to diamonds, such as, chemical resistance and hardness. Boron carbide’s extra hardness gives it the nickname “Black Diamond” (It ranks third after diamond and boron nitride) and is one of the leading grinding materials.
Application examples
- Grinding, lapping and polishing tungsten carbide and other hard materials such as different types of ceramics, minerals, glasses, etc..
- Hot pressing and sintering of the hard and abrasion resistant parts with super light weight.
- Ceramic armor
- Refractory
- Solid rocket fuel
- Metallurgical refractory with high corrosion and oxygen resistance.
- Neutron absorbing materials for nuclear technology.
- Additive for sintering silicon carbide parts and diamond tools.
- Steel modification component with high boron content.
- Boronizing
Typical Technical data
| •Appearance (dry state): | Color | Black | |||
| •Chemical composition: | Chemical formula: | B4C Application | |||
| Grade | AG (Abrasive) | CG (Ceramic) | RG (Refractory) | NG (Nuclear) | |
| B + C min. | 98 | 99 | 94 | 98 | |
| B (Boron) min. | 76 | 77 | 75 | 76 | |
| C (Carbon) max. | 23 | 22.5 | 24 | 24 | |
| B2O3 | 0.50 | 0.10 | 1.0 | 0.1 | |
| Fe (Iron) max. | 0.2 | 0.10 | 0.5 | 0.1 | |
| Si (Silicon) | - | 0.01 | 0.3 | 0.01 | |
| N (Nitrogen) | 98 | 99 | 94 | 98 | |
| B + C min. | - | 0.01 | 0.5 | 0.5 | |
| Isotope B10 (atomic weight) | 19.5-21.5% | ||||
| •Physical data: | Knoop hardness (0.1) | 3000 | |||
| Mohs hardness | < 9.5 Note: Diamond’s Mohs hardness is 10 | ||||
| Specific gravity: | 2.51 | ||||
| Melting point: | 2723 oF | ||||
| Structure: | Monocrystalline | ||||
Availability of particle sizes
Boron carbide grit sizes correspond to the specifications of the Federation of European Producers of Abrasive Products (FEPA):
| F100 (150/106 um) | F220 (75/45 um) | F360 (40/12 um) | F800 (14/2 um) |
| F120 (125/90 um) | F240 (70/28 um) | F400 (32/8 um) | F1000 (10/1 um) |
| F150 (106/63 um) | F280 (59/22 um) | F500 (25/5 um) | F1200 (7/1 um) |
| F180 (90/53 um) | F320 (49/16.5 um) | F600 (19/3 um) | F1500 (<5 um) |
Other sizes in FEPA and USA Mesh System are available on request: -10, -15, -20 µ Standard packaging in 100 lb (30 gal.) fiber drums Custom packaging is available on request.