Fabrication and characteristics of carbon fiber reinforced C-SiC dual matrix composites

A series of carbon fiber reinforced C-SiC dual matrix composites (C/C-SiC composites) were developed through precursor infiltration of polycarbosilane (PCS) and pyrolysis (PIP), using porous C/C composites with different density from chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) as the preform. The density, mechanical properties, and microstructure of the composites were investigated and the effects of the preform density and the PCS concentration of the infiltration solution on the final density and the mechanical properties of the composites were discussed in detail. The results show that the final density of the C/C-SiC composites prepared at the infiltration concentration of 50% is the highest, indicating that 50% is the proper PCS concentration of the PCS/ Xylene solution to prepare the C/C-SiC composites. The final densities of C/C-SiC composites were closely related to the preform density and the highest final density corresponds to the highest original preform density. For the composites prepared using infiltration solution of 50% PCS, the C/C-SiC composite whose preform density is 1.23 g/cm³ possesses the best mechanical properties while that whose preform density is 1.49 g/cm³ the worst mechanical properties.