NASA Glenn Research Center engineers have devised a microwave process that produces stronger silicon carbide (SiC) fiber tows with tailoring to increase strength and ease integration into aerospace and automotive gas turbine engine components. Their SiC fiber exhibits excellent tensile strength and creep resistance at its highest use temperature, making integration more straightforward.
High Strength
Silicon carbide ceramic fiber’s high strength makes it suitable for use in numerous applications, from ceramic matrix composites where its fibers act as reinforcement to resist extreme temperatures, to being highly durable and resistant to corrosion. It has many applications beyond these.
Silicon Carbide Ceramic Fiber’s lightweight construction combined with its low density makes it ideal for aerospace applications. It can reinforce metal and ceramic matrix composite materials while boasting superior creep resistance and oxidation resistance at high temperatures as well as being capable of withstanding mechanical shocks.
There are various manufacturing methods for producing silicon carbide ceramic fibers, with Yajima being one of the more prevalent approaches. It uses pre-ceramic liquid polymers to form green (unfired) fibers which are then converted to their desired chemistry through heat treatment. Another continuous coreless fiber production technique uses carbon or tungsten filament as substrate, with fibers then being cured and formed into desired shapes through electron beam or pyrolysis of polycarbosilane precursor.
High Modulus
Silicon carbide fibers offer excellent creep resistance and oxidation resistance at high temperatures, making them the ideal material choice for use in metal and ceramic matrix composites. Their tensile strength exceeds 2.2 GPa while their Young’s modulus surpasses 400 GPa to provide superior dimensional stability in structural components.
Silicon carbide ceramic fibers have proven their worth as armour coatings by withstanding 7.62mm R B32AP projectiles at speeds up to 850 m/s without deforming or penetrating, due to their high tensile strength and stiffness – dispersing impact energy over a larger volume and protecting and supporting metal substrates from harm.
Ceramic-metal hybrids combine an impressive mechanical strength with superior dielectric constant, making them an excellent choice as protective barriers in chemical production plant components, such as mills, expanders and extruders. Furthermore, this material is resistant to acids and alkalis while remaining steam proof over long exposure times – providing a good base for long distance transmission at high speed transmission rates with reduced signal attenuation over long distances and improved speed transmission rates.
High Stiffness
Silicon carbide (SiC) is an advanced ceramic material composed of carbon and silicon. Found naturally as the mineral moissanite and synthetically mass-produced as synthetic abrasives, SiC grains are easily fused together using sintering to form very hard ceramics ideal for high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, hardness strength. Plus it boasts low neutron absorption cross sections!
Plywood fibers are popular reinforcement options in metal matrix composites due to their excellent creep resistance, oxidation resistance and chemical corrosion resistance – as well as compatibility with ceramics – making them particularly useful in aerospace, military weapons and equipment production, civil industrial production applications as well as civil industrial fields.
SiC fibers have become an invaluable addition to ballistic protection systems, enabling manufacturers to produce composite armour materials capable of stopping 7.62 x 54 mm R B32 AP projectiles at speeds of up to 850 meters per second with less damage to the body than existing steel or aluminum alloy-based systems – increasing protection while simultaneously decreasing weight, fuel consumption costs and operating expenses for vehicles.
High Temperature Resistance
Silicon carbide ceramic fiber has exceptional wear resistance and temperature tolerance, making it suitable for use in pumps and mechanical seals across chemical industries and plant engineering environments. Furthermore, its resistance to acid media such as phosphoric, sulphuric, and nitric acids allows it to function even under harsher environments such as those present in marine environments.
Silicon Carbide ceramics are widely utilized as mirror materials in astronomical telescopes due to their rigidity, low thermal expansion and hardness. Due to its superior tribological properties, this material possesses excellent sliding and bearing characteristics for machinery and process engineering applications as well as being corrosion- and abrasion-resistant.
NASA’s Glenn Research Center is developing silicon carbide (SiC) fibers into ceramic matrix composites that are highly effective at withstanding high temperatures, such as the hot components of gas turbine engines. Their SiC/SiC CMC technologies leverage non-oxide SiC fibers and matrixes to produce materials with superior durability at maintaining structural integrity for extended periods at high temperatures compared to traditional metallic superalloys or monolithic ceramics; producing lighter weight structures while offering increased performance at reduced costs.
Chemical Corrosion Resistance
Silicon carbide has many applications and is widely utilized across many fields of industry, from national defense and aerospace applications, to nuclear energy development, space technology development, automobile production and chemical production. Silicon carbide ceramics feature exceptional mechanical properties such as strength, high modulus creep resistance as well as excellent thermal shock resistance with minimal thermal expansion coefficient.
SiC ceramics offer excellent corrosion resistance. Silicon carbide fiber can be coated with various substances to enhance its chemical resistance, making it a suitable option for components found in oil and gas pipelines and chemical processing facilities that require strong corrosion resistance.
Comparing the tensile strengths of various SiC fibers before and after corrosion tests was done. This revealed that unlike in alloys where corrosion spreads evenly throughout, C/C-SiC corrosion occurs only at specific spots due to residual free silicon (Fig 7 sample 1). This resulted in evidence of superior corrosion resistance over both Al2O3 and traditional refractory materials like Boron Carbide(B4C). Silicon Carbide Fibers’ unique structure offers exceptional resistance against corrosion.