Silicon carbide fibers and whiskers for ceramic matrix composites (review)

An increase the operating temperature range of structural elements and aircraft assemblies is one of the main goals in developing advanced and new models of aerospace equipment to improve their technical characteristics. The most heat-loaded aircraft structures, such as a combustion chamber, high-pressure turbine segments, nozzle flaps with a controlled thrust vector, must have a long service life under conditions of high temperatures, an oxidizing environment, fuel combustion products, and variable mechanical and thermal loads. At the same time, modern Ti and Ni-based superalloys have reached the limits of their operating temperatures. The leading world aircraft manufacturers — General Electric (USA), Rolls-Royce High Temperature Composite Inc. (USA), Snecma Propulsion Solide (France) — actively conduct fundamental research in developing ceramic materials with high (1300 – 1600°C) and ultrahigh (2000 – 2500°C) operating temperatures. However, ceramic materials have a number of shortcomings attributed to the high brittleness and low crack resistance of monolithic ceramics. Moreover, manufacturing of complex configuration and large-sized ceramic parts faces serious difficulties. Nowadays, ceramic composite materials with a high-temperature matrix (e.g., based on ZrC-SiC) and reinforcing filler, an inorganic fiber, (e.g., silicon carbide) appeared most promising for operating temperatures above 1200°C and exhibited enhanced energy efficiency. Ceramic fibers based on silicon compounds possess excellent mechanical properties: the tensile strength more than 2 GPa, modulus of elasticity more than 200 GPa, and thermal resistance at a temperature above 800°C, thus making them an essential reinforcing component in metal and ceramic composites. This review is devoted to silicon carbide core fibers obtained by chemical vapor deposition of silicon carbide onto a tungsten or carbon core, which makes it possible to obtain fibers a 100 – 150 μm in diameter to be used in composites with a metal matrix. The coreless SiC-fibers with a diameter of 10 – 20 μm obtained by molding a polymer precursor from a melt and used mainly in ceramic composites are also considered. A comparative analysis of the phase composition, physical and mechanical properties and thermal-oxidative resistance of fibers obtained by different methods is presented. Whiskers (filamentary crystals) are also considered as reinforcing fillers for composite materials along with their properties and methods of production. The prospects of using different fibers and whiskers as reinforcing fillers for composites are discussed.

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