Heat-Generating Behavior of SiC Fiber Mat Composites Embedded with Ceramic Powder for Heat Conservation

Silicon carbide (SiC) fiber mats generate large amounts of heat through microwave interactions and are used as heating elements in rapid heat treatment furnaces. However, SiC fibers cool immediately when the microwave power is turned off. Therefore, ceramic layers are inserted between the SiC fiber layers to improve the heat conservation performance of SiC fiber mats. In this study, we fabricated SiC fiber mat composites (SMCs) with ceramic layers under various pressures. The SMC fabricated under 0.007 kPa showed the lowest heat-generating temperature and deviation because less necking was observed between the materials. On the other hand, the SMC fabricated under 0.375 kPa showed the highest heat-generating temperature of 1532.33 °C. The SMCs prepared in this study using ceramic powder not only showed heat-generating temperatures comparable to those of conventional SiC fiber mats but also exhibited excellent heat-preserving ability. Key words: SiC fiber, Ceramic powder, Microwave, Composites, Heat-conservation