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FORCE

FunctiOnally graded fiber-Reinforced Ceramics for Extreme environments

Principal Investigator: Laura Silvestroni

Involved personnel: Diletta Sciti, Nicola Gilli, Alex Sangiorgi, Cesare Melandri

Starting date:15/08/2019
Duration: 36 months
Total funding: 192.257 $
Call: US ARMY ACC-APC-RTP
Project Coordinator: Laura Silvestroni

FORCE is relevant to the development of damage-tolerant and oxidation resistant materials for use at high temperature in oxidizing atmospheres. The basis objective is the development of novel buffer layers able to prevent fibers degradation during sintering and oxidation, which will be fundamental for the design and production of functionally graded ultra-high temperature composites (FG-UHTC) containing short carbon fibers with enhanced thermo-mechanical properties for applications under extreme environments.

a) Sketch of the microstructure disposition of a FG-UHTC with outermost oxidation-resistant scale, buffer layer to prevent fiber degradation and fiber-rich core and b) SEM image showing the gradual fiber enrichment in a defect-free FG-UHTC.

 

Publications & Patents:

  • L. Silvestroni, C. Melandri, V. Venkatachalam, J. Binner, D. Sciti, Merging toughness and oxidation resistance in a light ZrB2 composite, Materials &Design, 183 (2019) 108078.
  • L. Silvestroni, S. Failla, A. Vinci, L. Zoli, V. Rubio, J. Binner, D. Sciti, “Ablation behaviour of ultra-high temperature ceramic matrix composites: Role of MeSi2 addition”, Journal of the European Ceramic Society 39 (2019) 2771–2781.
  • L. Silvestroni, C. Capiani, D. Dalle Fabbriche, C. Melandri, Novel light and tough ZrB2-based functionally graded ceramics, Composites: Part B, 99, 321-329 (2016).
  • L. Silvestroni, D. Dalle Fabbriche, C. Melandri, D. Sciti, “Relationships between Carbon fiber type and interfacial domain in ZrB2-based ceramics”, Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 36 [1] 17-24 (2016).