CERAMIC-MATRIX COMPOSITES FOR EXTREME APPLICATIONS

Hi-tech systems whose components operate in working conditions characterised by a chemically aggressive environment and elevated temperatures (above 1000 C) are ever more numerous. If metallic materials are not suitably protected and cooled under these conditions, they operate at the limit of their capacity and therefore the integrity of the component can not be guaranteed. Their cooling may furthermore constitute considerable complications in terms of their design. Ceramic materials are a category of materials that bears such extreme working conditions well. However, these materials are actually scarcely used due to their fragility. This limit is overcome by Ceramic Matrix Composites materials (CMCs). All the technologies introduced in this study are developed at FN S.P.A.