Ceramic Matrix Composites: An Investigation into Methods to Improve Environmental, Thermal, and Mechanical Properties

The overall goal of this dissertation was to develop and understand ceramic material systems in order to improve the environmental, thermal, and mechanical properties of Continuous Fiber Reinforced Ceramic Matrix Composites (CFR-CMC). Ceramic materials provide alternatives to metals for use in high temperature applications because of their melting points and thermo-mechanical behavior. Since mankind’s realization of the properties associated with ceramics, their efforts to exploit those attributes for structural applications have been limited by the inherent brittleness of ceramics. Incorporating reinforcing materials into ceramic materials has allowed significant progress in improving their toughness over monolithic counterparts. This allows for their use in structural applications. Moreover, the improved thermo-mechanical stability of reinforced ceramic materials has prompted extensive research of these composite materials. As the requirements for reinforced ceramic materials increase, the fabrication of multicomponent material systems, which attempt to enhance the environmental, thermal, and mechanical properties of ceramics, needs to be investigated