Continuous interface coating for SiC composites (CICSiC)

陶瓷基复合材料（CMC）是提高未来航空发动机效率的重要材料，它能提高涡轮机温度，并具有重量显著降低、冷却要求降低和飞机排放减少等优点。通过提高材料强度的可预测性，可以提高这些新材料的使用率，使设计工程师对材料的使用寿命有更大的信心。纤维增强材料上的界面涂层是CMC的关键组成部分之一，严格控制这些涂层的公差对于确保可靠的性能至关重要。目前的分批涂覆方法仅提供相对低水平的均匀性控制。复杂的部件可能会显示涂层厚度变化，限制性能的可预测性。这个“CICSiC”项目旨在开发涂层技术，一种新的原型机器设计和英国的设备制造合作伙伴关系，该设备将以连续模式为SiC基CMC涂覆增强碳化硅（SiC）纤维。这种模式将通过在光纤成形为较厚且形状复杂的组件预制件之前对光纤进行处理来实现严格的涂层公差，在这种情况下，很难以相同的精度处理组件的所有区域。ATL的客户对这种技术的全球需求很大（项目负责人）包括发动机制造商和部件开发商，因为美国最近的发展使GE航空获得了竞争优势。该项目旨在使技术能够从英国基地开发并销售到世界市场。计划产品的客户热衷于推动开发，并了解这种新工艺生产的材料的特性。该项目将采用现有的批量涂覆工艺，并将从中获得的知识应用于设计和建造原型设备，该设备可连续涂覆移动的SiC纤维。将从中小企业和研究中心汲取纤维处理专业知识，以形成一个知识库，在该知识库中设计一个生产规模的多丝束工厂，以便在项目结束时进行制造。涂层纤维的最终用户，包括目前在日本和美国以外建立唯一SiC纤维工厂的德国公司，将成为该财团涂层纤维测试制度的一部分，以确保其符合工业要求。

Ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) are a vital material for improvement of efficiency in future aircraft engines, enabling higher turbine temperatures and offering the advantages of significantly lower weight, lower cooling requirements and lower aircraft emissions. The rate of introduction of these new materials can be improved by raising the predictability of material strength, enabling design engineers to have a greater degree of confidence in the life of the material.Interface coatings on fibre reinforcements are one of the critical components of CMCs and control of these coatings with tight tolerances is vital for ensuring reliable properties. Current batch coating methods only give a relatively low level of uniformity control. Complex components can show coating thickness variations, limiting the predictability of performance.This 'CICSiC' project aims to develop the coating technology, a novel prototype machine design and a UK based manufacturing partnership for the equipment which will coat the reinforcing silicon carbide (SiC) fibre for SiC based CMCs in a continuous mode. This mode will enable tight coating tolerance by treating the fibre before it is shaped into a thicker and complex shaped component preform where it becomes difficult to process all areas of the component with equal precision.There is significant global demand for this technology amongst customers of ATL (project lead) including engine manufacturers and component developers, as recent developments in the US have enabled GE Aviation to gain a competitive advantage. This project aims to enable technology to be developed and sold to a world market from a UK base. Customers of the planned product are keen to push the development through and understand the properties of the material produced by this new process.The project will take the existing batch coating process and apply knowledge from that to design and build prototype equipment which coats a moving SiC fibre on a continuous basis. Fibre handling expertise will be drawn both from SMEs and a research centre to form a knowledge base from which a production scale multi-tow plant is designed ready for manufacturing at the end of the project. End users of the coated fibre, including the German company now setting up the only SiC fibre plant outside Japan and the US, will form part of the consortium's test regime for the coated fibre to ensure it meets industrial requirements.