SiC/SiC composites incorporating uncoated fibers to improve interlaminar strength
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsSuresh Subramanian, James Steibel, Douglas Carper
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention is a ceramic matrix composite turbine engine component, wherein the component has a region of expected higher interlaminate stress during normal engine operation. The component includes both coated fiber tows and uncoated fiber tows arranged together into a preselected form, wherein the uncoated fiber tows are located at predetermined regions of expected high interlaminate stress. The invention further includes method of manufacturing a CMC such as a composite turbine engine component, wherein the component has a region of expected higher interlaminate stress during engine operation.
Claims20
A ceramic matrix composite turbine engine component:
- the component comprising a region of expected high interlaminar stress and a region of expected lower interlaminar stress, the component further comprising:
- a plurality of ceramic fiber tows;
- a coating comprising a plurality of layers deposited by chemical vapor deposition, the coating applied to a portion of the ceramic fiber tows to form a plurality of coated fiber tows, the plurality of coated fiber tows located in at least the region of expected low interlaminar stress;
- a plurality of uncoated tows located in at least the region of expected high interlaminar stress;
- a ceramic matrix material lying in interstitial regions between the plurality of ceramic fiber tows.
The component of claim 4, wherein the layer including BN is about 0.25 μm to about 0.75 μm thick, the layer including B(Si)N is about 0.25 μm to about 0.75 μm thick, the layer including Si3N4 is about 0.75 μm thick to about 1.25 μm thick, and the layer including carbon is about 0.05 μm to about 3 μm thick.
A method of manufacturing a turbine engine component, the component having a region of expected high interlaminar stress and a region of expected lower interlaminate stress, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a plurality of uncoated ceramic fiber tows;
- applying a coating to a preselected portion of the fiber tows using chemical vapor deposition to form a plurality of coated fiber tows, the plurality of coated fiber tows having a coating comprising a plurality of layers;
- laying up the plurality of uncoated ceramic fiber tows and coated fiber tows in a preselected arrangement to form a component preform, wherein at least a portion of the uncoated fiber tows are positioned in at least the region of expected high interlaminar stress;
- partially densifying the component preform using a carbon-containing slurry;
- and
- further densifying the component preform with at least silicon to form a ceramic matrix composite aircraft engine component with biased architecture.
A method of manufacturing a hybrid preform, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a plurality of uncoated ceramic fiber tows;
- applying a coating by chemical vapor deposition to a preselected portion of the fiber tows using chemical vapor deposition to form a plurality of coated fiber tows;
- weaving the coated fibers with the uncoated fibers to form a plurality of hybrid plies;
- laying up the plurality of hybrid plies with a preselected amount of coated fiber tows in a preselected arrangement to form a desired shape, wherein the hybrid plies are located in at least preselected regions of expected high interlaminar stress.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.