Additive manufacturing of high-performance CCF/SiC composites under dual protection

In this work, chopped carbon fibre reinforced silicon carbide (CCF/SiC) composites were fabricated by selective laser sintering (SLS) combined with reaction melt infiltration (RMI), using the SiC interface and pyrolytic carbon layer as a dual protection to protect the CCF from the erosion of molten silicon. The pyrolytic carbon layer encapsulates the CCF@SiC and the outer carbon preferentially reacts with silicon to form a β-SiC layer, which hinders the reaction of liquid silicon to CCF. Moreover, the fine-crystal β-SiC generated by the Si–C reaction optimizes the microstructure and enhances the mechanical performance of CCF/SiC composites. The CCF under the dual protection maintains its original high strength and high modulus, and the toughness of the CCF/SiC composites is significantly improved through the fibre debonding and fibre pull-out mechanism. The bending strength and toughness of CCF/SiC composites are 265.2 MPa and 3.5 MPa m1/2, respectively. The insights gained from this study contribute to a better understanding of microstructural engineering in SLS&RMI-fabricated CCF/SiC composites. This paves the way for future breakthroughs in composite material design and low-cost manufacturing for extreme environments.