Manufacture and Thermomechanical Characterization of Wet Filament Wound C/C‐SiC Composites

Ceramic matrix composites based on wet filament winding and LSI-processing are attractive candidates (C/C-SiC) for many applications in aerospace. Therefore, commercial C-fibres and a water-based phenolic resin were used for wet filament winding on a mandrel and subsequent curing in an autoclave, followed by pyrolysis to a C-matrix and liquid silicon infiltration (LSI) to form a C-SiC-matrix. By applying wet filament winding the mechanical properties can be tailor-designed according to the chosen fibre orientation since C/C-SiC is a fibre dominant and damage tolerant CMC material. Wet filament winding was performed on a mandrel with winding angles of +/-15°, +/-30° and +/-45°, +/-60° and +/-75° were made possible by cutting samples in perpendicular direction. Tubes in wet state were cut in axial direction, flattened and cured on a flat plate without applying additional pressure, such as warm pressing, in order to obtain similar curing conditions to tubes. Mechanical and thermomechanical characterisation of flat specimen of C/C-SiC composites was performed by using an Indutherm universal testing machine using inductive heating of samples and a laser extensometer for measuring of displacement under inert conditions. Testing of tensile specimens was performed at room temperature as well as high temperatures up to 1600°C. In addition, microstructural characterization was performed by SEM.