Wear of boron carbide ceramics by abrasive waterjets

Fine-grained boron carbide and new B4C-TiB2 composites with improved mechanical properties were developed to be used as nozzle materials. The rate of erosion caused by abrasive particle impact on dense plates of B4C, B4C/TiB2, and SiC ceramics was measured with an abrasive waterjet (AWJ) at different impingement angles. Finally the wear resistance of B4C ceramics was compared with hard metals by determining the life of AWJ nozzles made from these materials. Boron carbide outperforms hard metals as AWJ nozzle material especially under conditions, when very hard abrasives such as alumina are used. The combination B4C nozzle-Al2O3 abrasive is economic for difficult cutting jobs, especially for cutting of very hard and tough work piece materials such as modern ceramics, cermets and hard metals.