Fiber-reinforced carbon and graphite articles and method for the production thereof
AssigneeAmoco Corporation
InventorDaniel H. Hecht
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Abstract
The present invention relates to the fabrication of thick, three-dimensional structures comprising discontinuous thermoset pitch fiber, and to composites comprising such structures embedded in a matrix material such as a thermoset resin, ceramic, metal or carbon. Carbon-carbon fiber composite articles produced from porous carbon preforms obtained by carbonizing such structures followed by infiltration with pyrolytic carbon using CVD processes exhibit surprisingly high through-thickness thermal conductivity and isotropic properties.
Claims9
A method for producing a fibrous preform comprising the steps of forming a mat of discontinuous thermoset pitch fiber having a length greater than about 0.5 inch, said mat having a thickness in a range of from about 1/2 inch to about 4 inches and a density in a range of from 0.3 to about 0.6 g/cc;
- and needle punching said mat substantially normal to a surface to form filament bundles and re-orient a portion of said filament bundles in the needled direction.
A method for producing a fibrous preform comprising the steps of:
- providing shaping means for holding fiber;
- placing discontinuous thermoset pitch fiber having a length greater than about 0.5 inch into said shaping means and forming a mat having a thickness in a range of from about 1/2 inch to about 4 inches and a density of from about 0.3 to about 0.6 g/cc;
- needlepunching said mat substantially normal to a surface and at a needle density of from about 100 to about 10,000 per square inch to form filament bundles and re-orient a portion of said filament bundles in the needled direction, thereby providing a three-dimensional filamentary structure;
- and carbonizing said filamentary structure by heating in an inert atmosphere to a temperature greater than about 1000.degree. C. to provide a porous carbon preform.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.