A Journey in the Field of Ceramic Matrix Composites

This chapter discusses the main steps in the development at LCTS of ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) since their discovery in the late 1970s up to their present use in aeronautical jet engines. The first step in the journey was to demonstrate that C/C-SiC composites with a hybrid C/SiC matrix, deriving from C/C, could be prepared according to a gas phase route process and to establish their main thermos-mechanical properties. Si-C-O fibers were prepared as single small diameter filaments at Lab scale, from polycarbosilane (PCS) precursors with an adjusted composition. The analytical data revealed that the first treatment yields fibers with a very low free carbon in relatively large proportion near the center of the cross-section. The minicomposite comprises one single straight fiber tow in which the interphase and the matrix are infiltrated by I-CVI under relatively fast conditions since the thickness of the substrate is small and its pore network simple.