Boron carbide is characterized by a unique combination of properties that make it a material of choice for a wide range of engineering applications. Boron carbide is used in refractory applications due to its high melting point and thermal stability; it is used as abrasive powders and coatings due to its extreme abrasion resistance; it excels in ballistic performance due to its high hardness and low density; and it is commonly used in nuclear applications as neutron radiation absorbent. In addition, boron carbide is a high temperature semiconductor that can potentially be used for novel electronic applications. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the recent advances in understanding of structural and chemical variations in boron carbide and their influence on electronic, optical, vibrational, mechanical, and ballistic properties. Structural instability of boron carbide under high stresses associated with external loading and the nature of the resulting disordered phase are also discussed.

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Following the successful first-ever virtual NATAS Conference in 2021, we now hope that you are all dreaming of traveling again and that the 2022 NATAS Conference is on your list. The venue will be the historic Case Western Reserve University (CSWU) campus in downtown Cleveland. We are looking forward to seeing you in person, beginning with a welcome reception on Monday, August 1st in the beautiful Havorka Auditorium along with our vendor exhibition. Then, the week will be full of concurrent lecture sessions plus the prestigious NATAS Short Course in thermal analysis. The room block will be at the Courtyard by Marriott University Circle at a rate of USD 165 per night. We thank them for their flexibility during the various stages of this pandemic.

In this work we present a non-conventional approach to evaluate impact performance of polymeric films under a wide range of strain conditions by using a high-throughput mechanical testing (HTMECH) technique. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate how HTMECH can be employed to assess property–performance relationships in freestanding polymeric films and multilayered systems which are not possible to measure by following standard methodologies. Two main studies will be discussed: (1) toughness of freestanding thin films under high strain conditions, and (2) layer to layer adhesion in multilayer systems. In each case, mechanical properties such as critical strength and absorbed deformation energy were found to be correlated to different failure mechanisms and to thermal mechanical behavior of polymeric films.

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