Mechanical properties and failure mechanisms of B4C-TiB2 ceramics under quasi-static and dynamic impact loading
摘要
B4C-TiB2 multiphasic ceramics have emerged as an ideal candidate for individual armor systems due to their exceptional low density and high hardness. Current researches on the dynamic mechanical properties of B4C-TiB2 multiphasic ceramics primarily focus on low strain rates, which fails to reflect their performance under high-velocity impact conditions as the velocity of projectile increases. To address this, B4C-TiB2 ceramics with varying compositions were fabricated by hot-pressing sintering. Both B4C-30 vol.% TiB2 and B4C-40 vol.% TiB2 exhibited outstanding flexural strength (~ 800 MPa), fracture toughness (> 8.0 MPa⸱m1/2), and Vickers hardness (> 35 GPa) under quasi-static loading. Under dynamic compression, they achieved dynamic compressive strengths of 3625 MPa and 3563 MPa at strain rate of 3500 s−1, respectively, along with evident strain-rate strengthening effects. High-speed plate impact tests revealed Hugoniot elastic limits of 18.8 GPa and 19.5 GPa for B4C-30 vol.% TiB2 and B4C-40 vol.% TiB2, respectively.