Silicon carbide fiber composite receiver tubes manufactured by PIP process

The performance of SiC fiber composites made by a polymer infiltration and pyrolysis (PIP) process was investigated. Two types of tubular composites were manufactured using Hi-Nicalon and Nicalon-CG silicon carbide fibers infiltrated with SMP10 silicon carbide matrix. The fiber content in both composites was about 25 vol.% with an average density of 2.39 g/cc. The tubular SiC composites showed stable solar absorptance and emittance of 0.97 and 0.91, respectively, at 800 ᵒC. The composites were thermally shocked at 900, 1000, and 1100 ᵒC with a waterjet simulating raindrops. The hoop tensile strength of the composites revealed no loss of mechanical strength due to the thermal shock experiments up to 1100 ᵒC.