Effect of Explosive Shock Waves on Ceramic Powders

TLDR

Explosive shock waves were applied to ceramic powders to study resulting changes in their physical properties. Shock treatment produced fine, impurity‑free SiC and B4C particles, induced X‑ray line broadening linked to lattice strain and reduced crystallite size, turned CaCO3 blue under X‑ray exposure, increased tapped and green densities, enhanced sintering responsiveness, and suggests a unique cold‑working route enabling microstructure control via primary recrystallization.

Abstract

Powders of several ceramic materials were subjected to explosive shock waves and changes in their physical properties were studied. Very fine particle sized SiC and B4C could be produced without introducing impurities. Strong line broadening in the X-ray diffraction pattern of shocked powders was observed and correlated with lattice strain and crystallite size reduction. Shocked CaCO3 turned blue when exposed to X rays. Shocked powders gave higher tapped densities, higher green densities after pressing, and were unusually responsive to sintering. Explosive shocking may be a unique way of “cold-working” ceramics and may permit subsequent control of their microstructure through primary recrystallization.