Influence of sintering temperature on hardness of CaB6 sintered body.

The influence of sintering temperature on vickers hardness of calcium hexaboride (CaB6)sintered body was investigated. CaB6 powder with of about 10μm in size was used in this experiment. The sample sintered at 1673 to 1923K for 3.6ks in vacuum by hot-pressing. The relative density of the sintered body increased with increasing sintering temperature. Relative density of the sample was 90% more than sintering temperature at 1873K. The relative density of sample sintered at 1923K showed 94%. The vickers hardness of the sample increased drastically with increasing relative density from about 4 to 8GPa for 90 to 94%.