Ceramic Fibers for Matrix Composites in High-Temperature Engine Applications
Peter Baldus,
1
Martin Jansen,
2*
Dieter Sporn
3
High-temperature engine applications have been limited by the
performance of metal alloys and carbide fiber composites at elevated
temperatures. Random inorganic networks composed of silicon, boron,
nitrogen, and carbon represent a novel class of ceramics with
outstanding durability at elevated temperatures. SiBN3C was synthesized by pyrolysis of a preceramic
N-methylpolyborosilazane made from the single-source
precursor Cl3Si-NH-BCl2. The polymer can be
processed to a green fiber by melt-spinning, which then undergoes an
intermediate curing step and successive pyrolysis. The ceramic fibers,
which are presently produced on a semitechnical scale, combine several
desired properties relevant for an application in fiber-reinforced
ceramic composites: thermal stability, mechanical strength,
high-temperature creep resistivity, low density, and stability against
oxidation or molten silicon.
1 Bayer AG, ZF-MFA, Gebäude Q18, D-51368
Leverkusen, Germany.
2 Max-Planck-Institut für
Festkörperforschung, Heisenbergstrasse 1, D-70569 Stuttgart,
Germany.
3 Fraunhofer Institut für
Silicatforschung, Neunerplatz 2, D-97082 Würzburg, Germany.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed.
