Coatings and joining for SiC and SiC-composites for nuclear energy systems

Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program Status of Silicon Carbide Joining Technology Development

“…There are a number of conventional and advanced techniques to join SiC (or SiC/SiC composite) to itself or other materials (Jones, Henager, and Hollenberg 1992;Snead et al 1996). Successfully demonstrated techniques include pre-ceramic polymer joining (Yajima et al 1981;Donato, Colombo, and Abadirashid 1995;Lewinsohn et al 2001), glass-ceramics (Ferraris et al 1994), reaction bonding (Lewinsohn et al 2001;Rabin and Moore 1993), active metal / pre-ceramic polymers (Sherwood et al 1997), and active metal solid state displacement techniques (Halbig et al 2006;Radhakrishnan et al 1996;Henager et al 2007). While the strength of the joints produced by these methods appears to be adequate for LWR applications, there is currently a lack of standards for testing ceramics (Ferraris et al 2011(Ferraris et al , 2008) and a variety of tests have been applied to measure the strength of the bonds created using each technique.…”

Recent advances and issues in development of silicon carbide composites for fusion applications

“…Of many joining techniques [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23], NITE-joining is very attractive, since it allows a robust structure with the same composition of the matrix of NITE-SiC/SiC composites [15]. A 200 mm-long NITE-tube joint was successfully manufactured ( Fig.…”

“…One drawback to apply NITE-joining is a strict requirement of pressure under controlled environments. Alternatively, either high-strength joints using solid-state displacement reactions [17][18][19][20][21][22] or preceramic polymer joints [23], which are easily applicable and that could be used in field repair situations, have been developed. In parallel, to obtain reliable strength data of these joints, the torsional shear testing method, as one of the perceived reliable test methods, has been developed under the international collaboration.…”

Compatibility of interfaces and fibers for SiC-composites in fusion environments

“…It is low-activation, temperature-resistant, and radiation damage tolerant compared to most materials. In the form of woven or braided composites with high-strength SiC fibers it has the requisite mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties to be a useful and versatile material system for fusion applications, especially since microstructural tailoring during processing allows control over the physical properties of interest [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. Chemical and environmental compatibility with fusion and blanket cooling environments appear to be positive [1,5,12,13] but uncertainties remain primarily due to inadequate testing of SiC f /SiC materials in flowing Pb-Li and due to uncertainty in final composite architecture designs for fusion.…”