A method for coating fibers, includes desizing sized short fibers having an average length less than or equal to 5 mm, the short fibers being made of ceramic material or carbon, sieving the desized short fibers in order to separate them from any agglomerates of sized short fibers still present, introducing the desized and sieved short fibers into a reactor, and coating the short fibers in the reactor by chemical vapor deposition in a fluidized bed.

Methods for preparing ceramic products using liquid infusion technology and products formed from the same are provided. The methods and products include the incorporation of a particulate material and binder between ceramic fibers such that the fibers may be properly spaced during formation of the ceramic product. Ceramic matrix composite products can thereby be provided using near net shaping methods.

A method of making a fiber preform for ceramic matrix composite (CMC) fabrication comprises laminating an arrangement of fibers between polymer sheets comprising an organic polymer, which may function as a fugitive binder during fabrication, to form a flexible prepreg sheet. A plurality of the flexible prepreg sheets are laid up in a predetermined geometry to form a stack, and the stack is heated to soften the organic polymer and bond together the flexible prepreg sheets into a bonded prepreg structure. Upon cooling of the bonded prepreg structure, a rigid preform is formed. The rigid preform is heated at a sufficient temperature to pyrolyze the organic polymer. Thus, a porous preform that may undergo further processing into a CMC is formed.

A process for depositing a coating on short fibres of carbon or silicon carbide from a coating precursor, the short fibres having a length of between 50 m and 5 mm, the process including at least heating the short fibres by placing a mixture including the fibres and a liquid phase of the coating precursor in a microwave field so as to bring the surface of the fibres to a temperature allowing the coating on the fibres from the coating precursor to be formed by calefaction.

Methods and apparatus for depositing material on a continuous substrate are provided herein. In some embodiments, an apparatus for processing a continuous substrate includes: a first chamber having a first volume; a second chamber having a second volume fluidly coupled to the first volume; and a plurality of process chambers, each having a process volume defining a processing path between the first chamber and the second chamber, wherein the process volume of each process chamber is fluidly coupled to each other, to the first volume, and to the second volume, and wherein the first chamber, the second chamber, and the plurality of process chambers are configured to process a continuous substrate that extends from the first chamber, through the plurality of process chambers, and to the second chamber.

A method including infiltrating a porous fiber preform with a slurry including a carrier fluid and a first plurality of solid particles wherein the first plurality of solid particles includes at least a first ceramic material, drying the slurry to form a greenbody preform, machining the greenbody preform to a target dimension, depositing a protective layer precursor including a second plurality of solid particles on the machined greenbody preform wherein the second plurality of solid particles includes at least a second ceramic material, and infiltrating the machined greenbody preform with a molten infiltrant to form a composite article including an integral protective layer.

Insulation materials have a coating of a partially cured polymer on a plurality of fibers, and the plurality of coated fibers in a cross-linked polymeric matrix. Insulation may be formed by applying a preceramic polymer to a plurality of fibers, heating the preceramic polymer to form a partially cured polymer over at least portions of the plurality of fibers, disposing the plurality of fibers in a polymeric material, and curing the polymeric material. A rocket motor may be formed by disposing a plurality of coated fibers in an insulation precursor, curing the insulation precursor to form an insulation material without sintering the partially cured polymer, and providing an energetic material over the polymeric material. An article includes an insulation material over at least one surface.

Methods for forming a ceramic matrix composite from a melt infiltrated and melt extracted preform that has residual silicon within open pore channels therein are provided. The method may include: introducing a carbon yielding resin into the open pore channels; heating the preform to produce elemental carbon from the carbon yielding resin within the open pore channels; and further heating the elemental carbon to react with the residual silicon to form SiC within the open pore channels to form the ceramic matrix composite.

Systems and methods for manufacturing unidirectional fiber prepreg tapes for CMC articles are provided. In one exemplary aspect, the method includes casting a matrix material on a carrier film to form a matrix film. The matrix material of the matrix film is then allowed to dry for a predetermined time. The matrix film is then wrapped on a drum and the matrix material is wet to a predetermined viscosity with a solvent. Thereafter, a fiber tow that includes of a plurality of fibers is wound about the drum so that the fiber tow penetrates into the matrix material and the matrix material impregnates the fiber tow to form the prepreg tape.

A process for manufacturing a composite part includes introducing an adhesion promoter into the pores of a fibrous preform formed by threads covered with a coating having OH groups on its surface, the adhesion promoter including an electron-withdrawing group G1 that is reactive according to a reaction of substitution or of nucleophilic addition with the OH groups, and a reactive group G2; grafting the adhesion promoter to the surface of the coating by a reaction of substitution or nucleophilic addition of the OH groups on the group G1; introducing a ceramic precursor resin into the pores of the fibrous preform; polymerizing the resin introduced and bonding the grafted adhesion promoter to the resin by chemical reaction between these two compounds at the level of the group G2, and forming a ceramic matrix phase in the pores of the fibrous preform by pyrolysis of the polymerized resin.