Chapter 10 - Ceramic Matrix Composites

Abstract

The chapter provides a comparison of polymer-matrix composites and ceramic-matrix composites and illustrates a stress-strain curve for a monolithic ceramic and a ceramic-matrix composite. Ceramic matrix materials include the element carbon, glasses, glass-ceramics, oxides and non-oxides. The majority of ceramic materials are crystalline with predominantly ionic bonding, along with some covalent bonding. Reinforcements for ceramic matrix composites are carbon, oxide or non-oxide ceramic fibers, whiskers, or particulates. Carbon fiber is used primarily in carbon-carbon composites, while oxide fibers or non-oxide fibers are used in glass, glass-ceramic and crystalline ceramic matrices. The chapter provides a summary of a number of oxide and non-oxide continuous ceramic fibers. Fabrication of ceramic matrix composites can be conducted using solid, liquid, or gas phase processing to infiltrate the matrix onto the reinforcement. The chapter discusses the most prevalent fabrication approaches for ceramic matrix composites—powder processing for discontinuous matrix composites, slurry infiltration and consolidation for glass and glass-ceramic composites, polymer infiltration and pyrolysis (PIP), chemical vapor infiltration (CVI), directed metal oxidation (DMO), and liquid silicon infiltration (LSI).