Experimental investigation on the characteristic of Molybdenum Boride formed by spark plasma sintering technique

From the first invention of the spark plasma sintering (SPS) machine, it has been used in many innovative ways. From sintering innovative composites to highly advanced functionally graded material (FGM) and surface enhancement processes has been performed through the PSP process. SPS has all the abilities of pack and plasma nitriding, a study was proposed to investigate if the SPS is capable to perform boronizing on non-ferrous metals. The advantage of boronizing is enormous. Enhancement of wear, erosion and corrosion of the material's surface is among the desired outcomes. Although tribology and wear characteristics of borides are superior, the conventional process to form borides are too expensive and the process cycle time is too long for it to be a viable economic value. Boronising have long been an oddity attracting interest but never a serious contender to the surface hardening industry. It is hoped that the SPS with the pulsed DC cycle will shorten the cycle time and still produce a boride layer It is hoped the SPS with the pulsed DC cycle will shorten the cycle time and still produce a boride layer that is just as good as pack or plasma bonding.Master of Science (Precision Engineering