ARMOR ULTRALUGHT BORON CARBIDE
PLATES

Our R&D team is led by Prof. DSi. Dr. Zahariev TO THE PERSON:

Prof. Dr. Dr. Zahariev graduated Inorganic Chemistry at the oldest Bulgarian University – the Sofia University – in 1969. He holds two academic "doctor" titles – one in chemistry and one in science – as well as the academic rank "Professor".

Prof. Dr. Dr. Zahariev was working as Chief of Lab "Super hard materials and coatings" at the Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences from 1989 to 2010. He has published 51 scientific papers and 3 Monographs. He was referred to in 159 scientific papers and holds 12 industrial patents.

Prof. Dr. Dr. Zahariev was head of scientific projects with 8 Bulgarian organizations, 9 International organizations and 18 Bulgarian and international industrial companies.

He was leader and coordinator of subject 05.06 "Powder Metallurgy" at the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA).

He is editor in INTECH open access publisher, Croatia.

PROF. DSi. DR. ZAHARI ZAHARIEV WAS AWARDED SEVERAL TIMES:

Ceramics based on boron carbide are remarkable for their low density (weight per unit volume) and elevated hardness as compared to other ceramic and non-ceramic materials. For example, it weighs 40 to 50 % less than Alumina (Al2O3) and 3 times less than various armor steels, while being 2 times harder than Alumia and 5 times harder than steel. This makes it second to none in armor protection of people, tanks, helicopters etc. In addition B4C can absorb a much higher amount of kinetic energy than Alumina or SiC, which makes it more attractive for IED-protection for vehicles in high-risk use such as Iraq or Afghanistan.
A larger-scale production of boron carbide ceramics has been economically unfeasible due to the high manufacturing costs, the price of a B4C tile is slightly above than Alumina and similar than SiC. This is a result of the production process of B4C that includes “hot- pressing”, needed for very high temperatures and pressures as it is with diamond synthesis. We have developed an original method to obtain articles of boron carbide ceramics, in
which the hot-pressing stage is avoided. In addition to being rather efficient, this new procedure has the advantage of yielding articles up to 2 times harder than those obtained by the standard one. Its enhanced productivity (up to 10 times) has allowed a significant reduction in the price of output when compared with analogous “hot-pressed” items made in NATO countries and Russia.

The samples, which are submitted for testing are chosen by chance out of a production seven batches and are in accordance to DIN 40680 in regards to the acceptable tolerances in length and thickness. The current production line is located in Bulgaria and production is done with out-dated production equipment. Still excellent figures have been achieved and the general production procedure has thus been proven to be in effect.
The next step is to go into industrial mass-production, possibly in Germany, with up-to-date production equipment in order to achieve the following results:

1. Reduce the price for B4C to today’s SiC level and become global supplier for B4C  production,
2. Reduce the price for B4C to today’s Alumina level,
3. Apply the same production method on Alumina production and reduce the   current Alumina price level to ballistic-steel prices and become global supplier for Alumina,
4. Specialize on development of special construction of compound structures utilizing B4C, special polymer damping components and ballistic steel for
   improved IED and ballistic protection,
5. Introduce new protection materials such as boronized 3D-steel components.

We are happy to discuss a cooperation forming a strategical partnership for installation of a German based production and research center for special ballistic and IED protection with advanced materials (f.e. GAMP German Advanced Material Protection).