Processing and performance of Nicalon/Blackglas and Nextel/Blackglas using cure-on-the-fly filament winding and preceramic polymer pyrolysis with inactive fillers

The effects of inert powder inclusion on processing and mechanical performance of Nicalon/Blackglas and Nextel/Blackglas prepared by cure-on-the-fly filament winding with preceramic polymer pyrolysis have been investigated. Ceramic fiber reinforcements were boron-nitride-coated Nextel® and carbon-coated Nicalon™. Blackglas™ preceramic polymer was mixed with the micron size inert fillers in the presence of a surfactant agent, Hypermer PS2, to achieve a good dispersion of the powder during the process. Nextel/Blackglas, Nextel/Blackglas–TiN, Nextel/Blackglas–TiC, Nextel/Blackglas–SiC, Nextel/Blackglas–Si3N4, Nicalon/Blackglas, Nicalon/Blackglas–TiN, and Nicalon/Blackglas–Si3N4 tubes were manufactured. Scanning electron microscopy revealed the good quality of the parts. Samples with fillers exhibited excellent shape retention by comparison with those without fillers. C-ring tests were performed to evaluate the mechanical performance of the C-rings at room temperature. The production rate of samples composed of Nextel and Nicalon/filler increased by 14–28%. The strength and displacement to failure dropped by 6–28% and 5–33%, respectively, for Nextel-based samples, and the same values for Nicalon-based samples were 22–33% and 30–46%, respectively. No conclusive statement could be made for modulus. Effects of material system were studied and the results revealed that samples composed of BN-Nextel® showed better mechanical performance over samples composed of C-Nicalon™.