This paper presents four types of Continuous Fiber Ceramic Composites (CFCCs) manufactured using preceramic Polymer Infiltration and Pyrolysis (PIP) method for mechanical testing. Nicalon™ ceramic grade silicon carbide fiber was used as the reinforcements, and KiON CERASET® preceramic polymer was used as the matrix in this study. Further, the effects of nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, and the combination of the two, as CFCC reinforcements, were evaluated and compared with their base CFCCs based on processing and flexural mechanical performance of Nicalon/KiON CERASET® CFCCs by PIP method. Nicalon™ ceramic fiber was used as the primary reinforcement and KiON CERASET® preceramic polymer was used as the matrix material for all four types of CFCCs in this work. KiON CERASET® preceramic polymer was mixed with nano-size fillers in the presence of a surfactant agent to give a good dispersion of the particles and was used as the Nanoresin. Yttrium oxide nanoparticles with an average size of about 25 nm were used as the inclusion with weight percentage of up to 15%. Carbon nanotubes were grown directly on the surface of Nicalon™ fabric via chemical vapor deposition process, and used as Nanoforest. Characterization analysis and distribution studies of the samples using scanning electron microscopy were conducted. Four-point bending test was also conducted to evaluate the flexural mechanical performance of the ceramic nanocomposites samples at room temperature. A combination of nanoparticle Nanoresin and carbon nanotube Nanoforest reinforced CFCCs, had the highest improvement among all the samples studied in this research. It was also found that the effects of Nanoforest was dominant over the effects of Nanoresin.

Date Published: 30 August 2019
PDF: 13 pages
Proc. SPIE 11101, Material Technologies and Applications to Optics, Structures, Components, and Sub-Systems IV, 1110104 (30 August 2019); doi: 10.1117/12.2529613

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 11101:
Material Technologies and Applications to Optics, Structures, Components, and Sub-Systems IV
Matthias Kroedel; Bill A. Goodman, Editor(s)