Industry Advantages
Release Date:
2021-08-23
author:
Ningbo Zhongxing
Silicon carbide fiber-reinforced composites can be classified according to the ceramic matrix and the type of reinforcing fibers. Among them, continuous silicon carbide fiber-reinforced silicon carbide ceramic matrix composites (SiC/SiC) are currently recognized internationally as one of the most promising materials for high-temperature engine structural applications.
Silicon carbide fiber-reinforced composites can be classified according to the ceramic matrix and the type of reinforcing fibers. Among them, continuous silicon carbide fiber‑reinforced silicon carbide ceramic matrix composites (SiC/SiC) are currently recognized internationally as one of the most promising materials for high‑temperature engine structural applications.
Silicon carbide fiber composites exhibit excellent properties: high-temperature resistance and low density. These materials offer a suite of superior characteristics, including outstanding thermal stability, high strength, oxidation resistance, corrosion resistance, and wear resistance. Compared with their principal competitors—such as nickel–cobalt superalloys and titanium alloys—silicon carbide fiber composites not only demonstrate exceptional high-temperature performance but also boast a lower density.
The core advantages of silicon carbide fiber‑reinforced composites lie in their superior high‑temperature performance and low density, while their drawbacks include limited toughness and poor machinability. From the perspective of the six key criteria for material selection in aeroengines, these composites excel in higher maximum service temperatures, superior high‑temperature specific strength, longer life, and excellent high‑temperature oxidation resistance; however, they fall short of superalloys in terms of toughness and processability. Consequently, aeroengines constructed from silicon carbide fiber composites can operate at higher temperatures and exhibit extended service life under such conditions. At the same time, their relatively inferior toughness and machinability pose greater challenges to the manufacturing processes involved in producing these engines.
Thanks to their exceptional high‑temperature performance and low density, silicon carbide fiber composites have emerged as ideal materials for high thrust‑to‑weight ratio engines. The key to developing more efficient heat engines lies in raising operating temperatures, which in turn hinges on the development of materials capable of withstanding even higher thermal loads. Nickel‑ and cobalt‑based superalloys have already approached the limits of their service temperature, necessitating the adoption of sophisticated air‑cooling architectures and advanced thermal barrier coatings for high‑temperature components. However, such cooling schemes reduce combustion efficiency and increase design and manufacturing complexity. Consequently, silicon carbide fiber composites—boasting superior properties such as outstanding high‑temperature resistance, high strength, oxidation and corrosion resistance, and excellent wear resistance—have become the material of choice for critical high‑temperature components in high thrust‑to‑weight ratio aeroengines, hypersonic vehicles, and other advanced aerospace systems.
It boasts a broad operating temperature and service-life range, comprehensively covering both aircraft and rocket engines. Silicon carbide fiber‑reinforced composites, as a new class of strategic thermal‑structural materials, exhibit an exceptionally wide service‑temperature window; their service life varies with temperature and is tailored to specific applications. For instance, below 1,450°C, they can deliver lifetimes of several hundred to over a thousand hours, making them suitable for aircraft engines and brake pads. Below 2,000°C, their service life ranges from tens of minutes to several tens of hours, ideal for liquid‑propellant rocket engines and ramjet engines. At temperatures as high as 2,800°C, they offer an instantaneous lifetime of just a few seconds, well suited for solid‑propellant rocket motors.
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Continuous silicon carbide fibers (SiC fibers) and the ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) reinforced with them have demonstrated exceptionally broad application prospects in extreme‑environment fields such as aerospace and the nuclear industry, thanks to their outstanding high‑temperature resistance, oxidation resistance, and mechanical properties.
On May 28, 2025, the mid-term progress meeting for the China Association for Science and Technology’s 2024 National Society Project—“Research Report on High-Performance Inorganic Fibers and Products for Aerospace Applications,” undertaken by the Chinese Society of Textile Engineering—was successfully held at Wuhan Textile University.
On July 4, 2026, the “Fourth National Defense Science and Technology Summit Forum—Sub‑Forum on High‑Performance Inorganic Fibers and Their Application Technologies” and the Second National Academic Exchange Conference on High‑Performance Inorganic Fibers and Products were successfully held in Changsha, Hunan Province. The event was co‑hosted by the China Textile Engineering Society, the School of Aerospace Science of National University of Defense Technology, and the National Key Laboratory of New Textile Materials and Advanced Processing, with the Professional Committee on High‑Performance Inorganic Fibers and Products of the China Textile Engineering Society serving as the organizer. The conference was chaired by Liu Haitao, Director of the National Key Laboratory of Novel Ceramic Fibers and Their Composites at National University of Defense Technology, and brought together more than 140 participants, including experts and enterprise representatives from across the country in the field of inorganic fibers.
Silicon carbide fiber-reinforced composites can be classified according to the ceramic matrix and the type of reinforcing fibers. Among them, continuous silicon carbide fiber-reinforced silicon carbide ceramic matrix composites (SiC/SiC) are currently recognized internationally as one of the most promising materials for high-temperature engine structural applications.
In 1975, the Yajima group at Tohoku University in Japan synthesized continuous SiC fibers with diameters of approximately 10 μm, using polycarbosilane as the precursor. Shortly after Japan’s successful development of SiC fibers, China recognized the material’s potential applications and initiated efforts to establish a technological R&D framework for silicon carbide fibers, embarking on a journey of independent innovation.
The company has successfully scaled up the production of first-, second-, and third-generation continuous silicon carbide fibers by leveraging its proprietary electron-beam‑assisted active‑atmosphere crosslinking technology, with the resulting products achieving performance levels on par with international best practices. With all key technologies and equipment fully under domestic control, this milestone marks a critical step forward for China in the field of high‑performance continuous ceramic fibers.
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