Evaluation of Microstructure for SiC/SiC Composites using Mercury Intrusion Method

SiC/SiC composites have been considered one of the attractive materials for high temperature structural applications. The fabrication processes for SiC/SiC composites are typically divided into four types, which are chemical vapor infiltration (CVI), precursor impregnation and pyrolysis (PIP), hot pressing (HP) and reaction sintering (RS) method. Particularly, PIP and RS methods have capability for making near-net complex shapes. In this work, the microstructure characteristics of two SiC/SiC composites, which were fabricated by PIP and RS processes, were evaluated using the mercury intrusion method. The influence of their microstructural feature on some properties, such as bending strength, thermal conductivity and oxidation resistance, were discussed.