Improvement of Mechanical Properties of Fiber Reinforced SiC Composites Produced by Reaction-Bonding

Abstract

Addition of polysilastyrene and minimizing the grain size of silicon powder with a ball mill improved the flexural strength of the carbon fiber reinforced SiC composites produced by reaction-bonding. The flexural strength of these composites with a bulk density of as low as about 1.85Mg·m^-3 was about 530 MPa. This improvement is attributed to the increase in the volume fraction of carbon fiber and the elastic modulus of the composites.