A thermo-poroelasticity theory for infiltration processing of interpenetrating phase composites

Abstract

This work describes a thermo-poroelasticity theory to investigate the effects of temperature gradients on infiltration kinetics, pore pressure distribution of the liquid phase, and liquid content variation due to preform deformation for infiltration processing of interpenetrating phase composites. Governing equations for three-dimensional infiltration processing are presented. A similarity solution is derived for one-dimensional infiltration assuming no solidification of the liquid phase. The solution indicates that besides the liquid viscosity, the infiltration front also depends on the poroelastic properties of the preform. A numerical example for a polymer–ceramic IPC shows that the temperature gradients may produce significant liquid content increment beyond the amount that can be accommodated by the initial pore volume of the preform. This liquid content increment may compensate some solidification shrinkage of the liquid phase, thereby suppressing occurrence of microdefects in the composite.