A ceramic brush seal for a gas turbine engine, and a process for manufacturing the seal are provided. In one example, the process includes deinfiltrating an edge of a plurality of plies having a preimpregnated configuration. The edge is defined by a plurality of ceramic fibers extending away from a portion edge of a matrix infiltrated portion of each of the plies. In another example, the process includes masking an edge of a plurality of plies, the edge being defined by a plurality of ceramic fibers extending away from a portion edge of a body portion of each of the plies, and infiltrating the body portion of the plurality of plies with a ceramic matrix slurry. The plies are stacked, formed into a green body and then fired to form the component. The plies may include oxide/oxide woven ceramic fiber plies.

Synthetic ceramic proppants are described. Methods to make these proppants and methods of using these proppants are also described.

Silicon carbide composite materials contain CSiC with a density of 2.95 to 3.05 g/cm.sup.3 and a fiber bundle content of 2 to 10 wt. %. The fiber bundles have a length of 6 to 20 mm, a width of 0.2 to 3 mm, and a thickness of 0.1 to 0.8 mm. The fiber bundles are filled with a cured phenolic resin content of up to 45 wt. %, and the protected fiber bundles are integrated into an SiC matrix. A method produces the silicon carbide composite materials.

A method of impregnating a fiber texture of hollow shape, the method including introducing a first suspension containing a first powder of solid particles of ceramic or carbon material into an inside volume defined by an inside face of a fiber texture of hollow shape placed in a mold, an outer face of the fiber texture being presented facing a wall of the mold; and using the action of centrifugal force to impregnate the fiber texture with the first suspension by causing the mold to rotate and varying the speed of rotation of the mold during the impregnation of the texture with the first suspension.

A method for forming a ceramic aerogel includes contacting a ceramic precursor, an additive, an anionic surfactant, a cationic surfactant, and a catalyst to form a mixture. The catalyst may include an acid or a base. The method further includes heating the mixture to form a precursor gel, mixing fibers with the precursor gel, and drying the resultant fiber containing precursor gel.

A carbon substrate for a gas diffusion layer that has a porosity gradient in a thickness direction thereof, a gas diffusion using the carbon substrate, an electrode and a membrane-electrode assembly for a fuel cell that include the gas diffusion layer, and a fuel cell including the membrane-electrode assembly having the gas diffusion layer are provided. The gas diffusion layer has improved water discharge ability and improved bending strength both in the machine direction and cross-machine direction.

A thermal protection system that reduces a mismatch of thermal expansion coefficients CTE between a first material layer (CTE1) and a second material layer (CTE2) at a first layer-second layer interface. A portion of aluminum borosilicate (abs) or another suitable additive (add), whose CTE value, CTE(add), satisfies (CTE(add)CTE1)(CTE(add)CTE2)<0, is distributed with variable additive density, (z;add), in the first material layer and/or in the second material layer, with (z;add) near the materials interface being relatively high (alternatively, relatively low) and (z;add) in a region spaced apart from the interface being relatively low (alternatively, relatively high).

A tool to differentially compress a powder material comprises a differential compression piston and a support. The piston comprises a first part configured to apply a pressure on a first region of an external surface of the powder material. The piston comprises a second part with a recess which is located at a lateral distance from the first part and which is configured to face a second region of the external surface of the powder material. The tool further comprises a membrane that can be deformed by the piston. The deformable membrane is configured to at least partially retain the powder material in the tool.

A honeycomb structural body is made of cordierite ceramic and composed of partition walls and cells. A cell density is changed continuously or step by step from a central section to an outer peripheral section in a radial direction. The honeycomb structural body has a relationship of M1>M2>M3, and a relationship of K1<K2. M1 is an average cell density of a first section formed from a center to not more than R from the center. M2 is an average cell density of a second section formed within a range from R to R. M3 is an average cell density of a third section formed of more than R from the center to an outer peripheral surface. K1 and K2 are average cell density change rates of the first and second sections, respectively. R is a radius of the honeycomb structural body.

Components for a gas turbine engine and method for producing the components are provided. The components may include a substrate and a thermal barrier coating (TBC) having at least a first layer secured to a surface of the substrate. The first layer is formed of a ceramic material with a first microstructure that includes a plurality of interconnected unit cells having struts that have a relative density of greater than 98 percent and a closed cell porosity of 10 percent or greater. The TBC is secured to the substrate subsequent to formation of the TBC.