Composites based on silicon carbide are potential candidate materials for thermal protection systems mainly due to its good thermal conductivity in fiber direction and very low transversal thermal conductivity, high hardness, corrosion and thermal resistance. SiCf/SiC composite presents a SiC matrix reinforced with SiC polycrystalline continuous fibers. The composite was obtained by conversion reactions at high temperature and controlled atmosphere from a carbon/carbon composite precursor. The CVR process was used to fabricate SiC /SiC composite with crystalline high-purity beta-SiC from a carbon-carbon precursor fabricated with non-stabilized carbon fiber and f carbon matrix derived from phenolic resin. The converted composite exhibited a bulk density of 1.75 g/cm³, 40% open porosity and flexural strength of 80 MPa measured by four-point bending testing. The total specific area of 18 m²/g was evaluated by BET technique.
C/C composite; SiCf /SiC composite; characterization; microstructure; chemical vapor reaction (CVR)
