Inventors:
Margaret M Stackpoole - Santa Clara CA, US
Matthew J Gasch - Sacramento CA, US
Michael W Olson - Sunnyvale CA, US
Ian W. Hamby - Seattle WA, US
Sylvia M Johnson - Piedmont CA, US
Assignee:
The United States of America as Represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) - Washington DC
International Classification:
B28B 1/00
B28B 3/00
B28B 5/00
C04B 33/32
C04B 35/00
B32B 9/00
B32B 19/00
US Classification:
264624, 264625, 264626, 428698, 428699, 501 952, 501 962
Abstract:
A tough ultra-high temperature ceramic (UHTC) composite comprises grains of UHTC matrix material, such as HfB, ZrBor other metal boride, carbide, nitride, etc. , surrounded by a uniform distribution of acicular high aspect ratio reinforcement ceramic rods or whiskers, such as of SiC, is formed from uniformly mixing a powder of the UHTC material and a pre-ceramic polymer selected to form the desired reinforcement species, then thermally consolidating the mixture by hot pressing. The acicular reinforcement rods may make up from 5 to 30 vol % of the resulting microstructure.
