This project studies relavent reaction parameters in the development of silicon carbide fibers through a novel low temperature metallurgical process that converts carbon into silicon carbide. A copper silicon eutectic system is used to carry out the reaction at lower temperature. The research program is designed to study the reactivity of various types of precursor carbon, the effect of porosity, and the wetting characteristics of small radius filaments by molten metals. Silicon carbide fibers are increasingly used for high temperature composites. However, the commercial processes used have the following limitations: 1. high processing costs 2. presence of impurities 3. inability to produce long fibers. This project addresses some of the weaknesses of the current processes and proposes an improved method of processing silicon carbide fibers.
