Abstract
Silicon carbide fibre reinforced/SiC matrix (SiCf/SiC) composites are promising materials for aerospace applications, due to their excellent high-temperature stability and mechanical properties. Here we have developed a novel Gradated Concentration Polymer Infiltration and Pyrolysis (GC-PIP) method whereby repeated increasingly concentrated polycarbosilane/xylene solutions were used every PIP cycle to fabricate SiCf/SiC composites with low porosity (<6% according to X-ray μ-CT). The resulting SiC matrix in composites was highly nano-crystalline, having a composition, crystallinity and Young's modulus similar to the 2nd Generation SiC fibres. No damage to the fibres or the interphase was observed after processing of pressure-free pyrolysis at 1300 °C. The resulting composite displayed enhanced mechanical properties under three-point bending, giving a tough fracture behaviour with extensive crack deflection and fibre pull-out. This novel method can be easily applied to other precursors and fibres, and is a promising approach to fabricating low porosity SiCf/SiC composites displaying excellent mechanical properties.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 145065 |
| Journal | Materials Science and Engineering: A |
| Volume | 874 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 25 May 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Qiance and Han contributed equally to this work. This work was supported by Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials via EPSRC [grant numbers: EP/R00661X/1, EP/S019367/1, EP/P025021/1 and EP/P025498/1]. Qiance thanks the University of Manchester for PDS Award. Ping Xiao acknowledges Royal Academy of Engineering and Rolls-Royce for appointment of Rolls-Royce/Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair. Technical supports from Andrew Wallwork, Andrij Zadoroshnyj, Gary Harrison, John E. Warren, Kenneth Gyves, Patrick Hill, Rachel Saunders, Ross Nolan, Stuart Morse, and Xun Zhang are appreciated. Authors are grateful to Electron Microscopy Centre for SEM/TEM facilities, and the National Research Facility for Computed Tomography Lab for the X-ray μ-CT facility [grant number: EP/T02593X/1].
Funding Information:
Qiance and Han contributed equally to this work. This work was supported by Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials via EPSRC [grant numbers: EP/R00661X/1 , EP/S019367/1 , EP/P025021/1 and EP/P025498/1 ]. Qiance thanks the University of Manchester for PDS Award. Ping Xiao acknowledges Royal Academy of Engineering and Rolls-Royce for appointment of Rolls-Royce/Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair. Technical supports from Andrew Wallwork, Andrij Zadoroshnyj, Gary Harrison, John E. Warren, Kenneth Gyves, Patrick Hill, Rachel Saunders, Ross Nolan, Stuart Morse, and Xun Zhang are appreciated. Authors are grateful to Electron Microscopy Centre for SEM/TEM facilities, and the National Research Facility for Computed Tomography Lab for the X-ray μ-CT facility [grant number: EP/T02593X/1 ].
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors