This is a Phase II Small Business Research Initiative grant to continue the progress achieved during the Phase I grant. During Phase I, it was demonstrated that a silicon carbide fiber was produced which exhibited tensile strength of three hundred thousand pounds per square inch, an elastic modulus of fifty eight million pounds per square inch, virtually no degradation of properties after exposure to temperatures of twelve hundred degrees centigrade for three hours. The Phase II program seeks to optimize the processing of the fiber to achieve strength in excess of five hundred thousand pounds per square inch, elastic modulus of sixty million pounds per square inch, with similar thermal stability. Fibers of silicon carbide are used in ceramic. and metal. matrix composites. These materials are used in heat engines. The current research is aimed at improving the resistance of the fibers to high temperatures. The development of this fiber will obviate the need for the United States to import silicon carbide fibers, and will provide an opportunity to export them.
