Mechanical Properties of CaB<sub>6</sub> Sintered Body

In this paper, CaB6 sintered body was fabricated by hot-pressed sintering with/without nickel as a sintering aid. The microstructure and fracture morphology were observed by means of SEM. CaB6 polycrystalline hot-pressed at 2123K showed insufficient densification. Fracture surface revealed that the existence of pores and the poor grain boundaries made the occurrence of intergranular fracture. When 28wt% nickel was added, nearly full density was obtained, although the sintering temperature is 200K lower. Hardness, Bending strength and fracture toughness of polycrystalline CaB6 were measured. By adding the Ni in CaB6 matrix, the flexural strength and the fracture toughness were enhanced, and the ratio of transgranular to intergranular fracture type was increased notably. The fracture surface showed a transgranular fracture. The crack bridging, micro-cracking and crack deflecting were deemed as the contribution to the improved fracture toughness.