• Composites Research
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.148-157
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• 2019

In this study, $C_f/SiC$, $SiC_f/SiC$ and $C_f-SiC_f/SiC$ ceramic composites reinforcing carbon fiber, SiC fiber and hybrid fiber were fabricated by hybrid TGCVI and PIP process. After the thermal shock cycle, 3-point bending and Oxy-Acetylene torch test, their mechanical behavior, oxidation and erosion resistance were evaluated. The $C_f/SiC$ composite showed a decrease in mechanical property along with increasing temperature, a pseudo-ductile fracture mode and a large quantity of erosion. The $SiC_f/SiC$ composite exhibited stronger mechanical property and lower erosion rate compared to the $C_f/SiC$, but brittle fracture mode. On the other hand, hybrid type of $C_f-SiC_f/SiC$ composite gave the best mechanical property, more ductile failure mode than the $SiC_f/SiC$, and lower erosion rate than the $C_f/SiC$. During the Oxy-Acetylene torch test, the $SiO_2$ formed by reaction of the SiC matrix with oxygen prevented further oxidation or erosion of the fibers for $C_f-SiC_f/SiC$ and $SiC_f/SiC$ composites particularly. In conclusion, if a hybrid composite with low porosity is prepared, this material is expected to have high applicability as a high temperature thermo-structural composite under high temperature oxidation atmosphere by improving low mechanical property due to the oxidation of $C_f/SiC$ and brittle fracture mode of $SiC_f/SiC$ composite.

• Composites Research
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.77-83
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• 2017

Liquid silicon infiltration, which is one of the methods of producing fiber reinforced ceramic composites, has several advantages such as low fabrication cost and good shape formability. In order to confirm LSI process feasibility of SiC fiber, $SiC_f/SiC$ composites were fabricated using three types of SiC fibers (Tyranno SA, LoxM, Tyranno S) which have different crystallinity and oxygen content. Composites that were fabricated with LSI process were well densified by less than 2% of porosity, but showed an obvious difference in 3-point bending strength according to crystallinity and oxygen content. When composites in LSI process was exposed to a high temperature, crystallization and micro structural changes were occurred in amorphous SiOC phase in SiC fiber. Fiber shrinkage also observed during LSI process that caused from reaction in fiber and between fiber and matrix. These were confirmed with changes of process temperature by SEM, XRD and TEM analysis.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.335-341
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• 2011

Continuous SiC fiber-reinforced SiC-matrix composites ($SiC_f$/SiC) had been fabricated by electrophoretic infiltration combined with ultrasonication. Nano-sized ${\beta}$-SiC added with 12 wt% of $Al_2O_3-Y_2O_3$ additive and Tyranno$^{TM}$-SA3 fabric were used as a matrix phase and fiber reinforcement, respectively. After hot pressing at 5 different conditions, the density, microstructure and mechanical properties of $SiC_f$/SiC were characterized. Hot pressing at relatively severe conditions, such as $1750^{\circ}C$ for 1 and 2 h, resulted in a brittle fracture behavior due to the strong fiber-matrix interface in spite of their high flexural strength. On the other hand, toughened $SiC_f$/SiC composite could be achieved by hot pressing at milder condition because of the formation of weak interface in spite of the decreased flexural strength. These results proposed the importance of weak fiber-matrix interface in the fabrication of ductile $SiC_f$/SiC composite.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.166-171
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• 2007

The characterization of monolithic SiC and SiCf/SiC composite materials fabricated by NITE and RS processes was investigated in conjunction with the detailed analysis of their microstructure and density. The NITE-SiC based materials were fabricated, using a SiC powder with average size of 30 nm. RS- SiCf/SiC composites were fabricated with a complex slurry of C and SiC powder. In the RS process, the average size of starting SiC particle and the blending ratio of C/SiC powder were $0.4\;{\mu}m$ and 0.4, respectively. The reinforcing materials for /SiC composites were BN-SiC coated Hi-Nicalon SiC fiber, unidirectional or plain woven Tyranno SA SiC fiber. The characterization of all materials was examined by the means of SEM, EDS and three point bending test. The density of NITE-SiCf/SiC composite increased with increasing the pressure holding time. RS-SiCf/SiC composites represented a great decrease of flexural strength at the temperature of $1000\;^{\circ}C.$

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.453-460
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• 2019

To reduce residual pores of composites and obtain a dense matrix, SiC_f/SiC composites were fabricated by chemical vapor deposition (CVI) using SiC nanorods. SiC nanorods were uniformly grown in the thickness direction of the composite preform when the reaction pressure was maintained at 50 torr or 100 torr at 1,100℃. When SiC nanorods were grown, the densities of the composites were 2.57 ~ 2.65 g/㎤, higher than that of the composite density of 2.47 g/㎤ for non-growing of SiC nanorods under the same conditions; grown nanorods had uniform microstructure with reduced large pores between bundles. The flexural strength, fracture toughness and thermal conductivity (room temperature) of the SiC nanorod grown composites were 412 ~ 432 MPa, 13.79 ~ 14.94 MPa·m^1/2 and 11.51 ~11.89 W/m·K, which were increases of 30%, 25%, and 25% compared to the untreated composite, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.498-503
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• 2018

Using the thermal ablation method, the oxidation behavior of $SiC_f/SiC$ composites was investigated in air and in the temperature range of $1,300^{\circ}C$ to $2,000^{\circ}C$. At the relatively low temperature of $1,300^{\circ}C$, passive oxidation, which formed amorphous phase, predominantly occurred in the thermal ablation test. When the oxidation temperature increased, SiO (g) and CO (g) were formed by active oxidation and the dense oxide layer changed to a porous one by vaporization of gas phases. In the higher temperature oxidation test, both active oxidation due to $SiO_2$ decomposition on the surface of the oxide layer and active/passive oxidation transition due to interfacial reaction between oxide and base materials such as SiC fiber and matrix phase simultaneously occurred. This was another cause of high temperature degradation of $SiC_f/SiC$ composites.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.453-458
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• 2014

SiC and its composites have been considered for use as nuclear fuel cladding materials of pressurized light water reactors. In this study, a $SiC_f$/SiC composite as a constituent layer of SiC triplex fuel cladding was fabricated using a chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) process in which tubular SiC fiber preforms were prepared using a filament winding method. To enhance the matrix density of the composite layer, winding patterns, deposition temperature, and gas input ratio were controlled. Fiber arrangement and porosity were the main parameters influencing densification behaviors. Final density of the composites decreased as the SiC fiber volume fraction increased. The CVI process was optimized to densify the tubular preforms with high fiber volume fraction at a high $H_2$/MTS ratio of 20 at $1000^{\circ}C$; in this process, surface canning of the composites was effectively retarded.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.340-348
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• 2017

$SiC_f/SiC$ composites were joined using a $60{\mu}m-thick$ $Ti_3AlC_2$ or $Ti_3SiC_2$ MAX phase tape. The filler tape was inserted between the $SiC_f/SiC$ composites containing a 12 wt.% $Al_2O_3-Y_2O_3$ sintering additive. The joining was performed to a butt-joint configuration at $1600^{\circ}C$ or $1750^{\circ}C$ in an Ar atmosphere by applying 3.5 MPa using a hot press. Microstructural and phase analyses at the joining interface confirmed the decomposition of $Ti_3AlC_2$ and $Ti_3SiC_2$, indicating the joining by solid-state diffusion. The results showed sound joining interface without the presence of cracks. Joining strengths higher than 150 MPa could be obtained for the joints using $Ti_3AlC_2$ or $Ti_3SiC_2$ at $1750^{\circ}C$, while those for joined at $1600^{\circ}C$ decreased to 100 MPa approximately without the deformation of the joining bodies. The thickness of initial filler tape was reduced significantly after joining because of the decomposition and migration of MAX phase owing to the plasticity at high temperatures.

• Composites Research
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.108-115
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• 2017

Among several fabrication processes of $SiC_f/SiC$ composites, the chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) process has attractive advantages in manufacturing complex net-or near-net-shape components at relatively low temperatures, easily controlling the microstructure of the matrix and obtaining the highest SiC purity level. However, it has disadvantages in that the ratio of residual pores in matrix is higher than other processes and processing time is relatively long. To reduce the residual porosity, the whisker-growing-assisted CVI process, which is composed of whisker growth and matrix filling steps has been developed. The whiskers grown before matrix filling may serve to divide the large natural pores between the fibers or bundles so that the matrix can be effectively filled into the finely divided pores. In this paper, the fundamentals of the CVI process for preparation of $SiC_f/SiC$ composites and some experimental results prepared by CVI and whisker-growing-assisted CVI processes are briefly introduced.

• Composites Research
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.180-185
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• 2023

This paper investigates the impact of fiber dispersion on the internal structure and mechanical strength of SiC_f/SiC composites manufactured using spread SiC fibers. The fiber volume ratio of the specimen to which spread SiC fiber was applied decreased by 9%p compared to the non-spread specimen, and the resin slurry impregnated between the fibers more smoothly, resulting in minimal matrix porosity. In order to compare the fiber dispersion of each specimen, a method was proposed to quantify and evaluate the separation distance between fibers in composite materials. The results showed that the distance between fibers in the spread specimen increased by 2.23 ㎛ compared to the non-spread specimen, with a significant 42.6% increase in the distance between fiber surfaces. Furthermore, the 3pt bending test demonstrated a 49.3% higher flexural strength in the spread specimen, accompanied by a more uniform deviation in test data. These findings highlight the significant influence of SiC fiber dispersion on achieving uniform densification of the SiC_f/SiC matrix and increasing mechanical strength.