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Ultrahard boron nitride material through a hybrid laser/waterjet based surface treatment

Melaibari, Ammar A. ; Zhao, Jingnan ; Molian, Pal ; Bushlya, Volodymyr LU ; Zhou, Jinming LU ; Ståhl, Jan-Eric LU ; Petrusha, Igor and Shrotriya, Pranav (2016) In Acta Materialia 102. p.315-322
Abstract
We report a dual phase boron nitride (BN) material composed of 50% cubic and 50% wurtzite phases that has the same level of hardness as polycrystalline diamond. The dual phase BN material was initially synthesized from high pressure and high temperature consolidation of powder materials and subsequently, a laser/waterjet heat treatment (LWH) was applied to the material surface. The LWH process consisted of heating the sample surface using a continuous wave CO2 laser beam followed by tandem waterjet quenching of the laser irradiated material. The indentation hardness of the as-synthesized material was measured to be nominally 37 GPa. After the heat treatment the indentation hardness increased to nominal values of 75 GPa reaching the... (More)
We report a dual phase boron nitride (BN) material composed of 50% cubic and 50% wurtzite phases that has the same level of hardness as polycrystalline diamond. The dual phase BN material was initially synthesized from high pressure and high temperature consolidation of powder materials and subsequently, a laser/waterjet heat treatment (LWH) was applied to the material surface. The LWH process consisted of heating the sample surface using a continuous wave CO2 laser beam followed by tandem waterjet quenching of the laser irradiated material. The indentation hardness of the as-synthesized material was measured to be nominally 37 GPa. After the heat treatment the indentation hardness increased to nominal values of 75 GPa reaching the hardness of polycrystalline diamond 65-80 GPa. Dispersive Raman spectroscopy, high-resolution scanning electron microscope (HRSEM) and surface grazing XRD were used to characterize the BN phase signatures, grain size changes and phase transitions in both as-synthesized and heat treated material. Comparison of the as-synthesized and heat treated material microstructure revealed that heat treatment resulted in microstructure that consists of large grains; surrounded with regions of nano-grains between larger grains and; formation of solid interlayer along the grain boundaries. The increase in hardness was observed for LWH processing at laser fluence below 35 J/mm(2), and LWH processing above this value resulted in spallation of BN material from the surface. Raman spectrums of the material processed below the laser fluence of 35 J/mm(2) indicated that there are minimal phase transitions in the material; however, above that fluence, BN transformed into hexagonal phase resulting in surface damage through spallation. A combination of amorphous phase formation at the grain boundaries and grain size refinement are suggested as the mechanisms responsible for the LWH processing induced hardness increase. (C) 2015 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Ultrahard material, Boron Nitide, Laser heat treatment, Microstructure, Composite wBN/cBN
in
Acta Materialia
volume
102
pages
315 - 322
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000365368800032
  • scopus:84943567224
ISSN
1873-2453
DOI
10.1016/j.actamat.2015.08.082
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
f9e18d42-13ff-434c-8bce-180b4e45102d (old id 8560148)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:38:23
date last changed
2022-03-19 22:40:12
@article{f9e18d42-13ff-434c-8bce-180b4e45102d,
  abstract     = {{We report a dual phase boron nitride (BN) material composed of 50% cubic and 50% wurtzite phases that has the same level of hardness as polycrystalline diamond. The dual phase BN material was initially synthesized from high pressure and high temperature consolidation of powder materials and subsequently, a laser/waterjet heat treatment (LWH) was applied to the material surface. The LWH process consisted of heating the sample surface using a continuous wave CO2 laser beam followed by tandem waterjet quenching of the laser irradiated material. The indentation hardness of the as-synthesized material was measured to be nominally 37 GPa. After the heat treatment the indentation hardness increased to nominal values of 75 GPa reaching the hardness of polycrystalline diamond 65-80 GPa. Dispersive Raman spectroscopy, high-resolution scanning electron microscope (HRSEM) and surface grazing XRD were used to characterize the BN phase signatures, grain size changes and phase transitions in both as-synthesized and heat treated material. Comparison of the as-synthesized and heat treated material microstructure revealed that heat treatment resulted in microstructure that consists of large grains; surrounded with regions of nano-grains between larger grains and; formation of solid interlayer along the grain boundaries. The increase in hardness was observed for LWH processing at laser fluence below 35 J/mm(2), and LWH processing above this value resulted in spallation of BN material from the surface. Raman spectrums of the material processed below the laser fluence of 35 J/mm(2) indicated that there are minimal phase transitions in the material; however, above that fluence, BN transformed into hexagonal phase resulting in surface damage through spallation. A combination of amorphous phase formation at the grain boundaries and grain size refinement are suggested as the mechanisms responsible for the LWH processing induced hardness increase. (C) 2015 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.}},
  author       = {{Melaibari, Ammar A. and Zhao, Jingnan and Molian, Pal and Bushlya, Volodymyr and Zhou, Jinming and Ståhl, Jan-Eric and Petrusha, Igor and Shrotriya, Pranav}},
  issn         = {{1873-2453}},
  keywords     = {{Ultrahard material; Boron Nitide; Laser heat treatment; Microstructure; Composite wBN/cBN}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{315--322}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Acta Materialia}},
  title        = {{Ultrahard boron nitride material through a hybrid laser/waterjet based surface treatment}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2015.08.082}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.actamat.2015.08.082}},
  volume       = {{102}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}