Anelastic deformation of boron fibers
The flexural deformation behavior of vapor-deposited boron fibers was examined from 100 to 1100 K by stress-relaxation and internal friction techniques. Only strong thermally-activated anelasticity was observed with no evidence of plasticity up to surface strains of 0.006. The parameters governing the relaxation processes within the anelastic spectra of as-received and annealed fibers were determined. These parameters were correlated with X-ray structure studies to develop preliminary models for the sources of boron's anelasticity. The large relaxation strengths of the dominant Ia processes coupled with their relaxation times and energies suggest a sliding mechanism between certain basic structural subunits common to both the beta-rhombohedral and vapor-deposited boron structures.