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Effect of Sintering Temperature on the Interfacial and Mechanical Properties of SiC Fiber Reinforced Mullite Matrix Composites

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Abstract

In the present work, SiC fiber reinforced mullite matrix composites (SiCf/Mu composite) were prepared through a sol-gel process. The effect of sintering temperature on the interfacial and mechanical properties of the SiCf/Mu composite was studied comprehensively and deeply. The experimental results indicated that the micro-mechanical properties of mullite matrix and fiber/matrix interface were closely related to the sintering temperature. When sintering temperature reached 800 and 1000 °C, the matrix was composed of the γ-Al2O3 and amorphous SiO2. As the sintering temperature rise to 1200 °C, mullite phase was formed via the chemical reaction between γ-Al2O3 and amorphous SiO2, leading to significantly increased Young’s modulus and hardness of mullite matrix. It was also found that the interfacial shear strength was enhanced remarkably with sintering temperature due to the interfacial interaction between fiber and matrix. The interface controlled macro-mechanical properties of SiCf/Mu composites were sharply depressed at sintering temperature of 1000 °C, exhibiting a ductile-to-brittle fracture behavior transition.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

Haitao Liu greatly appreciates the financial support from Natural Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars of Hunan Province (Grant Number: 2020JJ2032) and 1912 Project.

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  1. Zhenghao Tian Xun Sun These authors contribute equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Science and Technology on Advanced Ceramic Fibers and Composites Laboratory, College of Aerospace Science and Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, 410073, Changsha, China

    Zhenghao Tian, Xun Sun, Guihang Deng, Ru Jiang & Haitao Liu

  2. School of Physics and Electronic Science, Hunan University of Science and Technology, 411021, Xiangtan, China

    Ru Jiang & Yunxin Liu

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  1. Zhenghao Tian
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  2. Xun Sun
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  3. Guihang Deng
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  4. Ru Jiang
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  6. Yunxin Liu
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Correspondence to Haitao Liu.

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Tian, Z., Sun, X., Deng, G. et al. Effect of Sintering Temperature on the Interfacial and Mechanical Properties of SiC Fiber Reinforced Mullite Matrix Composites. Appl Compos Mater 28, 767–776 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10443-021-09897-9

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