Location
Toomey Hall, Room 140
Presentation Date
April 22, 2023, 8:30am-10;00am
Session
Session 5e
Description
Ceramic materials are valued for good heat resistance and corrosion resistance. Due to these benefits, they are widely used in the aviation, automotive, medical, construction, and other industries. Ceramic materials are also both hard and brittle, qualities that are not ideal in many applications. To reduce brittleness, and other undesirable characteristics of ceramics, engineers have turned to composites to increase the mechanical properties of these materials. By adding composite particles or fibers, these characteristics can be improved. Constructing ceramic composites is not without its challenges, however. Current processes are prone to high porosity, high shrinkage, and poor accuracy of parts. High pressure injection molding shows promise as a process that reduces these negative outcomes. By injecting the ceramic precursor at a high pressure, good fiber infiltration and low porosity can be achieved. Subsequent re-infiltration processes can further reduce porosity. The aim of this project is to establish a process for high pressure injection molding for ceramic composites. Test coupons are manufactured using composite based additive manufacturing techniques, and both high- and low-pressure re-infiltrations are being performed. Thermal, mechanical, and microstructural analysis is done on the coupons to evaluate their performance. Through this process, a better understanding of manufacturing ceramic composites is achieved, potentially allowing for more widespread applications of these materials in many industries.
Meeting Name
32nd Annual Spring Meeting of the NASA-Mo Space Grant Consortium
Department(s)
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Second Department
Materials Science and Engineering
Document Type
Presentation
Document Version
Final Version
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2023 The Authors, all rights reserved.
High Pressure Injection Process for Ceramic Composites
Toomey Hall, Room 140
Ceramic materials are valued for good heat resistance and corrosion resistance. Due to these benefits, they are widely used in the aviation, automotive, medical, construction, and other industries. Ceramic materials are also both hard and brittle, qualities that are not ideal in many applications. To reduce brittleness, and other undesirable characteristics of ceramics, engineers have turned to composites to increase the mechanical properties of these materials. By adding composite particles or fibers, these characteristics can be improved. Constructing ceramic composites is not without its challenges, however. Current processes are prone to high porosity, high shrinkage, and poor accuracy of parts. High pressure injection molding shows promise as a process that reduces these negative outcomes. By injecting the ceramic precursor at a high pressure, good fiber infiltration and low porosity can be achieved. Subsequent re-infiltration processes can further reduce porosity. The aim of this project is to establish a process for high pressure injection molding for ceramic composites. Test coupons are manufactured using composite based additive manufacturing techniques, and both high- and low-pressure re-infiltrations are being performed. Thermal, mechanical, and microstructural analysis is done on the coupons to evaluate their performance. Through this process, a better understanding of manufacturing ceramic composites is achieved, potentially allowing for more widespread applications of these materials in many industries.
