Study of interface interactions in B4C/Ni–Cr–Si system

Boron carbide is a ceramic material possessing unique properties, and hence, high technological applications. The wetting behavior of ceramics by liquid alloys, which is of crucial importance in a variety of materials processing technologies, is determined by interfacial chemical interactions. In the present paper, the interfacial interactions of B4C with a series of Ni–Cr–Si alloys with Ni/Cr = 3.4 have been studied. For this purpose, a thermodynamic method was developed to predict the interactions. In addition, the interfacial structure and chemical composition were examined using SEM-EDS technique. Good agreement was found between the theoretical calculations and experimental data. It was revealed that the amount of Si content in the alloys plays a major role on the interfacial reactions as well as the interface microstructure.