Multi-Filament Ceramic Fibers for the Reinforcement of Titanium-Aluminide

While ceramic fiber reinforced titanium aluminide matrices composites are attractive due to their high specific strengths at high temperatures, one primary limitation is the lack of CTE match and chemical compatibility between the fiber and the matrix. The thermal mismatch and reaction zone is responsible for cracking during post-fabrication cool down and under thermal cycling. It is proposed to use a novel approach of coating multifilament carbon fibers with a single novel coating material. The produced ceramic fibers will be both CTE and chemically compatible to Ti3Al and Ti alloy matrices. It is proposed to coat carbon core fibers with dense TixAlC layers using MER recently developed coaxial hollow cathode plasma coating reactor. The ceramic fibers will be fully characterized, and consolidated in a titanium aluminide and Ti alloys matrices to establish technical feasibility.