Development Situation and Prospects of Domestic Continuous Silicon Carbide Fiber

With the development of aerospace and aviation industry, people urgently need relatively low density, high strength, high modulus and high temperature resistant engineering materials. Silicon carbide (SiC) fiber can meet these requirements, and has the advantages of high temperature oxidation resistance, corrosion resistance, low thermal expansion coefficient and low density, becoming high temperature ceramic matrix composite toughening reinforcing fiber that has rapid development in recent years. It has aroused wide concern from home and abroad, becoming one of important fiber varieties.

At present, the methods of preparation of continuous SiC fibers mainly include Preceramic Polymer Pyrolysis (3P), Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD method), Chemical Vapor Reaction (CVR method), etc. And Preceramic Polymer Pyrolysis is more mature and has helped to achieve industrial production, which is the main method of industrialization manufacturing SiC fibers.

SiC fiber has high strength, high modulus, high temperature resistance, oxidation resistance, creep resistance, resistance to chemical corrosion, salt fog resistance, great electromagnetic wave absorption and other features. It has good compatibility with metal and resin, and can be as a high heat resistance and oxidation resistance materials, and high performance composites reinforced material in many fields, especially suitable for aircraft engine, near space vehicle, reusable spacecraft and other select materials of thermal structure material.

Hot parts for new aviation spacecraft and sophisticated weapons, require impact resistance, environmental tolerance and high temperature resistance under aerobic condition. Ceramic fiber reinforced metal matrix and ceramic matrix composites can meet the above requirements, but the heat-resisting temperature of alumina (Al2O3), zirconia (ZrO2), basalt fibers does not exceed 1200 ℃, and their density, thermal expansion coefficient, thermal conductivity and electromagnetic performance all limit their applications. Therefore, the research and development of high performance ceramic fiber has become the one of research emphasises of international metal matrix composites (MMC) and ceramic matrix composites (CMC).

The application and development of first generation of SiC fibers are the foundation and driving force of SiC fiber industrialization. With the development of space technology, the improvement of application technology and the expansion of the range of application, it puts forward new requirements on the performance of SiC fiber. In order to adapt to the application requirements of different thermal structure materials, developing different varieties of SiC fibers and reducing the cost are remarkable. It is predicted that SiC fiber will become the most eye-catching and one of the most worthy high-tech materials varieties in this century, and will have a broad space for development and market prospects.