Effect of High-temperature Annealing on Mechanical Performance and Microstructures of Different Oxygen SiC Fibers

In order to explore the effect of high-temperature annealing on the mechanical performances and microstructures of different oxygen SiC fibers, two types of silicon carbide (SiC)-based fibers, specified as XD-SiC fibers (low oxygen) and Nicalon-201 fibers (high oxygen), were annealed in Ar for 1 h at 800 °C, 1 000 and 1 200 °C, respectively. Mechanical properties of these fibers were characterized via a monofilament tensile method, with observation of the damaged monofilament by SEM. Also, the effects of annealing on the microstructure and chemical compositions of the fibers were studied. The experimental results indicated that the tensile strength decreased with the increase of annealing temperatures, after annealing-treatment at 1200°C, D-SiC fibers remained 84% of its original strength, while Nicalon-201 fibers remained only 58% of its original strength. Crystallization and chemical composition of the fibers are the dominating factors for their mechanical performance at high temperatures. The microstructure changes of XD-SiC fibers are mainly composed of the growth of β-SiC, for Nicalon-201 fibers, evaporation of gases is the main change for microstructure.